The Revelation of Nanga Imagery in Soseki Natsume’s Gubijinso

Most of the papers on Gubijinso mainly emphasize the protagonist, Fujio. Also, the studies from the perspective of painting put stress on Fujio’s behavior and clothing and are always related to western style and categories of colors.
However, this paper studies on Kono, discussing whether the element of Nanga exists in the portrait of Kono’s father in Kono’s room and, to Kono, whether it could be the imagery of Nanga. First of all, it is necessary to inform what Nanga is and how much Soseki himself knows about it. Then the relationship of the characters will be analyzed. Besides, what is important is what Kono feels when he looks at his father’s portrait and the narration of this portrait.
It shows that Kono is different from the other characters because he is a loner not a member of any group, which results from the absence of his father. The vivid portrait of Kono’s father is accord with the characteristics of Nanga, say, vivid and graphic. To Kono, the vivid portrait gives him the feeling that his father is still alive. Through this portrait, Kono can again connect with others and release his loneliness.