夏目 漱石 + 芥川 龍之介

choi

Sam Sacks, Meiji Masters. Wall Street Journal, Dec 1, 2012.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB ... 43002751793198.html

Note:
(a) NATSUME Sōseki 夏目 漱石
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natsume_Soseki
(1867-1916; born Natsume Kinnosuke 夏目 金之助; section 4 "Major works" including The Gate 門 [pronounced "mon"](1910); こころ (1914))
(i) The "natsu" and "me" are Japanese pronunciations of kanji 夏 and 目, respectively.
(ii) kokoro 心 【こころ】
(ii) The 長編小説 『門』 is about husband Sosuke 宗助 and wife Oyone 御米.
* yone 米【こめ; よね】
* Later the commentary said, "Soseki takes leave of his couple," where the phrase "take leave" means "abandon, quit, exit."

(b) woodblock caption: "Trains Tokyo's Shimbashi Station in 1872, when the Tokyo-Yokohoma railway opened."
(i) For Shimbashi Station, see
Shiodome Freight Terminal
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shiodome_Freight_Terminal
(汐留駅 Shiodome-eki; The freight terminal was originally named Shimbashi Station (新橋駅 Shinbashi-eki) and served as the first railway terminal of Tokyo between 1872 and 1914)

* The New Bridge 新橋 was constructed spanning Shiodomegawa 汐留川 (now underground, having been covered above).
* tomeru 止める; 留める (vi) "to stop"
(ii) Japanese Government Railways
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_Government_Railways
(JGR; section 1 Name: 鉄道省 省線; 1872-1949; Japan's first railway, Tokyo-Yokohama railway, opened in 1872)

(c)
(i) Alice Munro
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_Munro
(née Laidlaw; born 1931; Canadian)
(ii) Jonathan Franzen
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Franzen
(1959- ; American)

(d) quotidian (adj; Latin quotidie every day)
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/quotidian
diminuendo (n; Italian, literally, diminishing): "DECRESCENDO"--the latter being defined as "a gradual decrease in volume of a musical passage."
() take leave

(f) Ryunosuke AKUTAGAWA  芥川 龍之介 (1892-1927)
(i) There is indeed a river called Akutagawa 芥川 in Osaka 大阪府.
(ii) akuta  あくた(芥) 《塵; 芥》 (n): "rubbish; trash; garbage"
(iii) Jorge Luis Borges
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jorge_Luis_Borges
(1899-1986; an Argentine short-story writer)
(iv) In a Grove (1922)  藪の中  Yabu no Naka
* yabu 藪 【やぶ】 (n): "thicket; bush; grove; scrub"
(v) The "3 Strange Tales" is a new book by publisher One Peace.
(vi) A Christian's Death, or  
"The Death of a Christian" (1918)  奉教人の死 Hōkyōnin no shi

Hōkyōnin 奉教人 【ほうきょうにん】 (n): "early Japanese Christian"
(vii) Agni, or
God of Aguni  (1920)  アグニの神  Aguni no Kami
* アグニ (n): "Agni (Vedic god of fire)"
* The Vedic" is adjective for
Vedas
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vedas       
(viii) The Nose (1916)  鼻  Hana
* hana  鼻 【はな】 (n): "nose"
(ix) Nikolai Gogol
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikolai_Gogol
(1809-1852; a Ukrainian-born Russian dramatist, novelist and short story writer)
(x) Withered Fields, or
"Gleanings from a Withered Field" (1918) 枯野抄  Kareno-shō

* kareno 枯れ野, 枯野 【かれの】 (n): "desolate field"
* kareru 枯れる 【かれる】 (vi): "to wither (of a plant)  <その花は水がないために枯れた。        The flower died for lack of water>"
(xi) MATSUO Bashō 松尾 芭蕉 (1644-1694, born MATSUO Kinsaku 松尾 金作)