宮沢賢治⌜ひかりの素足⌟の二つの世界 －足と裸足と素足、光の素足を中心に－

Abstract

This paper examines the word “feet” that has not received much attention, through studying Miyazawa Kenji’s Shining Bare Feet. Feet in this work are divided into bare (shoeless) feet, bare (sockless) feet, which developed into shining bare feet, a symbol. As the title suggests, Kenji tries to send a message through the word feet and this study examines what this message is and the inner world of Kenji. There are two worlds―the real world and the world after death. Upon entering the world after death, one finds another world after death where shining feet exist. From this world after death where shining bare feet are active, Ichiro return to the real world. The shining bare feet shows us what the hero should do and then who the hero turns out after returning, showing us what one should do in their life. Using an easy to understand fairy tales, Kenji tells us that the world after death is not something to be afraid of. Even though it appears dark at the beginning, one can advance to a world of light, Buddha, through good deeds and self-devotion. The key words of this piece of work, feet, bare (shoeless) feet, bare (sockless) feet, shining bare feet tells us about strong religiosity in Kenji’s life. This research examines the symbolic meaning of Shining Bare Feet and Ichiro’s return to the real world and analyzes this work from a new perspective. Telling us how a hero deals with after returning to the real world from the world after death, this story tells us that one should lead a better life, with definite goals of one’s life established. The next world after this exists and one should prepare for the next world in this world.