Manuscripts by late Japanese author Shiba found in Tokyo bookstore
A handwritten manuscript of the literary masterpiece ‘Ryoma ga Yuku’ — written by the late author Ryotaro Shiba (192396) — was recently discovered in a secondhand book store in Tokyo, the Shiba Ryotaro Memorial Museum said on June 23.
In addition, a separate manuscript of another Shiba classic, ‘Clouds above the Hill’ (Saka no Ue no Kumo), has also been unearthed. Both these original documents were created as part of a serialization for the Sankei Shimbun, about half a century ago, mainichi.jp reported.
The museum, based in the city of Higashiosaka in Osaka Prefecture, was contacted by the bookstore in late May about the manuscripts. Museum head Yoko Uemura later confirmed their authenticity, and the museum purchased the documents in early June.
However, it is not known exactly how the manuscripts made their way to the bookstore.
In total, 47 pages have turned up — 23 relating to ‘Ryoma ga Yuku’ and 24 relating to ‘Clouds above the Hill’. The text was written in blue fountain pen on 400-character manuscript paper with the word ‘Shiba’ printed in the bottom left hand corner. The last chapter of ‘Ryoma ga Yuku’, and the opening chapter of ‘Clouds above the Hill’, are included among the discovered texts.
Furthermore, there are additional notes and corrections, as well as traces of arrows written in red pencil, which are still visible on these manuscripts.