In this culturally significant and deeply reflective work, one of Japan’s most influential philosophers examines the challenges inherent in composing an autobiography—challenges shaped by the unreliability of memory, the nature of consciousness, and the physical transformations of place—in order to craft a compelling narrative of a life that began with aspirations toward medicine, turned to literature, and ultimately culminated in philosophy. In Attempt at an Autobiography, Watsuji Tetsurō (1889–1960) traces the first stage of his life during the late Meiji era, from his earliest memories through his years at Tokyo First Higher School, the preparatory institution for Tokyo Imperial University. His personal recollections are interwoven with major historical events, including the Industrial Revolution, the Russo-Japanese War, and the Second Sino-Japanese War. Through these reflections, the reader gains a first-hand perspective on these world-historical moments, their immediate social effects, and the political tensions they engendered.

Watsuji further reflects on Japan’s transition into modernity and its profound impact on cultural practices, education, and infrastructure, both in the rural countryside and in Tokyo as it emerged as a modern capital. Interspersed throughout these reflections are accounts of the contemporary literary scene, including sustained discussions of prominent authors such as Yosano Akiko and Natsume Sōseki. Watsuji also offers detailed analyses and perceptive commentary on traditional Japanese performing arts, including bunraku, kabuki, and nō theatre. In these respects, Attempt at an Autobiography not only chronicles Watsuji’s personal and intellectual formation but also functions as an important historical source, providing a vivid time capsule of Japan’s cultural transformation and modernization as perceived through the discerning perspective of one of the nation’s foremost intellectuals.