Official

Near the monument is a signboard set up by the Chuo-ku Board of Education, a pioneer of modern Romantic literature, Toya Kitamura (1868-1894), and Toson Shimazaki (1872-1943), a representative writer of naturalist literature.
Both students studied at the 17th Elementary School Yasuaki School (currently Yasuaki Elementary School), Daiichi Junior High School District, which was founded in 1878.

Fujimura, now born in Nakatsugawa City, Gifu Prefecture, moved to Tokyo at the age of nine.
I went to school from my sister's bride's wife (currently near Ginza 4-chome) in Yariya-cho, Kyobashi-ku and my fellow's house.

Next, we headed to the birthplace of Meiji Gakuin in Akashicho.

This birthplace and Fujimura are not directly related, but in 1887 he enrolled in the Meiji Gakuin School of Normal School at the age of 15.
In fact, this year was the year when the Tokyo government approved the establishment of a private Meiji Gakuin, and the campus was opened in Shirokane.
In other words, he is the first student of Meiji Gakuin!

Behind the monument is engraved on the Tokyo Matching Shrine (the predecessor of Meiji Gakuin University), which was once located in Tsukiji Settlement.

Next, I visited the site of the Kaisuikan remaining along the Sumida River.
Fujimura, who stopped at this Kappo cuisine Ryokan and boarding house where many cultural figures gathered, wrote the autobiographical novel "Spring" and serialized it in the Asahi Shimbun.

The monument on the right side of the information board was built in 1968 by the Fujimura Research Department of Meiji Gakuin University, the alma mater of Fujimura, and the back is engraved with the origin of "Spring".
If you take a stroll along the Sumida River, don't miss the back of this monument.♪

The last visit spot is the ruins of the Tsukiji Small Theater, which was founded in 1924 and became the base of the New Theater Movement.
In fact, it is also the place where the play based on the feature-length novel "Before Dawn" written by Fujimura in his hometown Magome was premiered in 1934!

You have introduced the Kitamura Toya / Toson Shimazaki Monument at Yasuaki Elementary School, the birthplace of Meiji Gakuin, the ruins of Kaikaikan, and the ruins of Tsukiji Small Theater.
I think that you could have a glimpse of the relationship between Fujimura and Chuo-ku in a different era from when you were a student or writer.
The works of people called literary people seem to be difficult, and even if I visit the library myself, I don't get much of it.
However, because it is a memorable year of Toson Shimazaki's 150th anniversary, I would like to read "Spring" written at Kaikaikan and "Before Dawn" premiered at Tsukiji Small Theater, using the long night of autumn. I am.

You can see a bunch of grapes under the roof of the front entrance of the theater engraved on the monument to the site of the Tsukiji Small Theater.
Until now, I had overlooked it, but it was noticed because of the fall of appetite.
Why is there a bunch of grapes engraved here?
When I read some of the literature, I found the following.

"Full History of Japanese Theater"
"The mark of the bunch of grapes is similar to the bell of Sanbaso, the god of Greek sake, Bacchus and Greek drama"

Masaaki Nakano, "Grand Hotel Performing Arts Center-Imperial Hotel Performing Arts Center and Its Era", "Taisho Theater Research", 8
"Grape is a symbol of Dionysus, the god of theater and sake. （...The mark of the Tsukiji Small Theater, which was launched just around the same time, was also grapes. Is it a manifestation of the desire to return the theater to a kind of celebration space like ancient Greece?"

Apparently, it was found that it was related to Greek drama and sake god Dionysus ("Bacchus" in Roman mythology) and Greek drama.
When and why Japanese theater was influenced by Greece, I would like to make it a future research topic.

Grapes and new plays are described in detail in RIEdel's article, "The Footprints of the Giants of 'New Play' Seen on Grapes: Jiyu Theater, Tsukiji Small Theater, and again Jiyu Theater."
Please take a look at it.

I want to read it in spring! Three novels with the keywords "Spring" and "Chuo-ku" (April 2020)
[The 18th Excursion Series] To the source of the novel world of Toson Shimazaki (August 2019)

Toya Kitamura and Toson Shimazaki Monument
Address: 5-1-13, Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo

The birthplace of Meiji Gakuin University
Address: 7-16, Akashicho, Chuo-ku, Tokyo

Site of Kaikaikan
Address: 3-13-19, Tsukuda, Chuo-ku, Tokyo ahead

Ruins of Tsukiji Small Theater
Address: 2-11-17, Tsukiji, Chuo-ku, Tokyo

[References and Papers]
Shigetoshi Kawatake, "Full History of Japanese Theater", Iwanami Shoten, 1959.
Masaaki Nakano, "Grand Hotel Performing Arts Center - Imperial Hotel Performing Arts Center and Its Era", "Taisho Theater Study", 8, 2000, pp. 104-123．
Sumiko Yamamoto, "Introduction of New Theater in the Early Showa Era and Expressionist Drama in the United States", "Annual Bulletin of the Institute of Humanities, Rissho University," 1987, pp. 49-69．

[Reference Website]
New National Theatre, “Before Dawn” https://www.nntt.jac.go.jp/season/s11/s11.html (viewed on October 28, 2022).
Meiji Gakuin University "The hot message of Toson Shimazaki who sticks to my heart over time." https://www.meijigakuin.ac.jp/about/why/shimazaki/ (viewed on October 28, 2022)
https://www.nntt.jac.go.jp/season/s11/s11.html (viewed on October 28, 2022) 3.