I didn't read so much Japanese literature. Because my father was a teacher of Japanese literature, I just wanted to do something else.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
I've been missing Japanese literature so much of late.
I did not have a very literary background. I came to poetry from the sciences and mathematics, and also through an interest in Japanese and Chinese poetry in translation.
I am one of the writers who wish to create serious works of literature which dissociate themselves from those novels which are mere reflections of the vast consumer cultures of Tokyo and the subcultures of the world at large.
I often imagine that the longer he studies English literature the more the Japanese student must be astonished at the extraordinary predominance given to the passion of love both in fiction and in poetry.
When I was a teenager, I thought how great it would be if only I could write novels in English. I had the feeling that I would be able to express my emotions so much more directly than if I wrote in Japanese.
It is impossible to remain indifferent to Japanese culture. It is a different civilisation where all you have learnt must be forgotten. It is a great intellectual challenge and a gorgeous sensual experience.
Sometimes I miss out the morning's painting session and instead study my Japanese books in the open.
Japanese is sort of a hobby of mine, and I can get around Japan with ease.
I have no models in Japanese literature. I created my own style, my own way.
I'm just very obsessed with Japanese stuff in general.