Tayama Katai (1872–1930) was a major writer in Japan's modern history. He was the leader of the (later) naturalist movement around 1906–1912, and author of its representative novel Futon (1907), which established a trend of autobiographical novels. His perception of 'nature' changed through the years from natural beauty to the 'natural individual' – on which Japanese later naturalism was based, following German models rather than French – and ultimately fate, time and religion. All his writings are naturo-centric in one sense or another.

In this ground-breaking study, In Search of Nature, Kenneth G. Henshall provides a 'cradle-to-grave' account of Katai and his prose fiction, and also corrects the mistaken belief that Japanese naturalism was a failure.