Footprints In The Snow

Originally published as Omoide no Ki in 1901, Footprints in the Snow is the story of the struggle of a penniless boy, Shintaro Kikuchi, for education and amancipation. Determined to rebuild the family fortunes after his father's bankruptcy, Shintaro runs away from his home in a remote corner of Kyushu in the hope of making his way in the world. After various trials and tribulations he eventually succeeds in reaching a Christian college in Kyoto where he accepts Christianity ethusiastically, but is so repelled by the arrogance of the Western missionary teachers towards a Japanese colleague, that he later walks out in protest. Four years after leaving home, he finally arrives in Tokyo, the city of his dreams. Yet his life is far from peaceful here and he has to struggle to keep himself at university, to pursue his carreer as a writer and journalist, and to marry the girl he loves.