The Heredity of Taste
The Heredity of Taste is a novella by Japanese writer Natsume Sōseki. It was written in December 1905, following the conclusion of the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–5. In it, Sōseki speaks out against the atrocity of war, the sacrifice of soldiers' lives, and the loss of their individuality.
It was first published in the January 1906 issue of the magazine Teikoku Bungaku.
Plot
The novella first recounts the narrator's arrival at a train station where Japanese soldiers are returning from the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–5. The narrator sees a soldier who bear a striking resemblance to a late friend Kō-san, an infantry lieutenant who was killed in a trench during that war. He later visits Kō-san's grave at a temple and discovers that a mysterious young woman has also been visiting the bachelor soldier. Spurred on by curiosity, the narrator visits Kō-san's mother where he finds his friend's diary and reads that Kō-san had met a beautiful young woman at a post office. After investigations, the narrator proffers his own theory on the heredity of taste – the woman and Kō-san find each other attractive owing to a bond which had previously existed between their ancestors decades ago.
Translations
The Heredity of Taste is available in two translations, both published under the Tuttle imprint. The first is a 1974 translation by Akito Itō and Graeme Wilson, which also offers two other early works by Sōseki, Ten Nights of Dream and Hearing Things. The newer version is a standalone 2004 translation by Sammy I. Tsunematsu.