This is a rich, romantic novel that is both a story of women's independence and a cultural history spanning from the end of the Edo period to the 1890s. In 1900, 15-year-old Kane Kikuchi enters Japan Women's College, a school in Tokyo. Under the free-spirited atmosphere of the school, which championed the ideal of the "new woman," the youthful lives of Kane and the female students around her are delicately depicted, and the group of people in the Meiji era are vividly revived. This is a rich, romantic novel that is both a story of women's independence and a cultural history spanning from the end of the Edo period to the 1890s. This is the last major work by the author, who lived through the hundred years of modern Japan. Commentary by Kazushi Shinoda. Published by Shinchosha. This is a copy of Yaeko Nogami's "Mori" (The Forest), which won the Japan Literature Award, published by Shinchosha in November 1985 (first edition), with a slipcase. There is little yellowing due to age, and there are no stains or writing. Please consider purchasing this book, understanding that it is a 40-year-old used book.