TOKYO >> A cache of handwritten manuscripts and correspondence from such Japanese literary giants as Ogai Mori (1862-1922) and Soseki Natsume (1867-1916) has been discovered at the publishing house Shinchosha in Tokyo.

The collection was found pasted on the pages of a scrapbook discovered during an extensive cleanup of the president’s office last year.

In total, the collection includes 21 items penned by 18 literati including Futabatei Shimei, Toson Shimazaki and Takeo Arishima. The author of one item is unknown.

The scrapbook is believed to have been compiled by Giryo Sato, who founded Shinchosha in 1896.

Measuring nearly a foot tall and about 15-1/2 inches wide, the album was likely a personal collection of the writers Sato had brushed shoulders with as director of one of the nation’s preeminent publishers.

The documents could provide researchers precious firsthand insights into the literary milieu of the time.

Of particular interest is an original manuscript by Natsume offering readers writing advice in response to a magazine questionnaire, and a manuscript page from a comical vignette by Mori titled “Minouebanashi” (“A Personal Story”).

First published in 1910 in the literary magazine Shincho, “Minouebanashi” tells the story of a young man staying at a seaside inn and a woman who works there. It was inspired by a real-life story from a friend.

The manuscript is a prime example of the well-regimented handwriting of the author and army surgeon, written in ink pen on unlined foreign-made paper.

“The use of foreign paper and a pen (instead of a calligraphy brush) is characteristic of (Mori) at the time,” said Kunihiko Nakajima, a Waseda University professor emeritus who researched the manuscripts.

“The absence of any additions or corrections to the manuscript page suggests that he quickly copied the text down from another draft in hand. ‘Minouebanashi’ is a minor work, but its discovery is very valuable, as most of his manuscripts from the period have not been found.”