1 Kamakura: This former capital of Japan had recently established itself as a summer resort convenient to Tokyo, where visitors could indulge in the fashionable pastime of sea bathing.

1 the basic exchange of marriage cups: Marriage formally took place with a simple ceremony involving drinking sake from the same cup.

1 Hongō Hill . . . Denzūin Temple: An area of present-day Tokyo’s Bunkyō ward, where Tokyo University is located. Denzūin Temple is a Pure Land Buddhist temple.

2 the Sino-Japanese War: 1894-95.

1 koto: A traditional zitherlike Japanese instrument with thirteen strings.

2 Ojōsan: The daughter is referred to throughout by this polite title for an unmarried girl.

1 adopt a son-in-law . . . marry out as a bride: Although the wife traditionally joined her husband’s family register, formal adoption of a husband into the wife’s family was not uncommon in cases where the family had no son to receive an inheritance.

1 the Komagome area: part of Tokyo’s present-day Bunkyō ward.

1 Swedenborg: Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772), Swedish philosopher and mystic.

2 the Bōshū Peninsula: In present-day southern Chiba Prefecture.

1 Chōshi: A fishing-port town in present-day Chiba Prefecture.

2 the famous Buddhist priest Nichiren: Nichiren (1222-82) founded the Nichiren sect, which places ultimate faith in the Lotus Sutra.

1 the Ryōkoku district: A busy district centered around the Ryōkoku Bridge in Tokyo.

1 the fierce Enma image that stands in Genkaku Temple: Genkaku Temple is in the Tokyo district of Koishikawa, close to where Sōseki imagines Okusan’s house to stand. Enma is the ruler of the realms of the dead.

1 Masago-chō: An area in present-day Bunkyō ward, near Tokyo University.

1 the New Year game of poem cards: A traditional game in which cards containing the second half of famous poems are turned faceup, and the participants must match each to the appropriate card containing the poem’s first half. The poems are those in the anthology Hyakunin isshū, “One Hundred Poems of One Hundred Poets,” a title usually referring to the collection made by Fujiwara no Teika (1162-1241).

1 elliptical course . . . three city wards: Koishikawa, Kanda, and Hongō wards.

1 I had laid out my bedding . . . opposite direction: It is considered unlucky to lie facing west, which is the realm of the dead.

1 Emperor Meiji passed away: See Introduction.

1 the end of General Nogi: See Introduction.

2 his failure in the Satsuma Rebellion: In the civil war of 1877, forces loyal to the emperor clashed with those of the rebellious Satsuma province. The imperial forces won, but as regimental commander, General Nogi felt responsible for the enemy’s capture of the symbolic regimental colors.

3 Watanabe Kazan . . . while he painted Kantan: Watanabe Kazan (1793-1841), artist and scholar, painted the famous Kantan. It depicts the Chinese legend of a young man in the village of that name, who gains enlightenment when a dream reveals to him the transience of fame and glory. Kazan committed ritual suicide.