From the moment Japan opened its ports to Western shipping, Japanese throughout the country caught up with Western technology, ideas, and beliefs. However, they quickly noticed that Japanese national and cultural identity was rapidly disappearing in favor of the seemingly more sophisticated Western style of thought. The Meiji period, which lasted from 1868 to 1912, was a huge turning point in the fusion of Japanese and Western styles. Novelists wrote many works during this period, detailing aspects of the transition from the traditional to the modern, such as the benefits and consequences of moving forward versus centering life on core, antiquated values. Additionally, new standards have been set for what defines a novel. The essence of Tsubouchi Shoyo's novel and Fukuzawa Yukichi's ideas pushed the structure of the Western novel as the preferred writing style over the Japanese writing style, as well as introduced contemporary literary criticism to the Japanese literary community. Although many writers gradually accepted their criticisms, there were some experts who believed that Japan should not blindly accept everything Western at the expense of its own unique identity. Nagai Kafu's The River Sumida and Kanagaki Robun's “The Beefeater” explore Japanese-Western cultural fusion, each placing their praises and criticisms of Western indulgence in similar but unique places. “The Beefeater” is a simple story; it barely squeezes two pages into a normal-sized book. It simply portrays a man eating beef in a restaurant, bragging to another customer about how good the meat is. He also marvels at Western technology, so much so that he calls the steam engine “the flaming chariot of hell.” It ends with the other customer leaving, leaving... middle of paper... Chokichi ions of winter, spring, summer and autumn. The two stories draw criticism from the same source, Western civilization. The reasoning behind this criticism is also the same. Japan of the Meiji period was overwhelmed by the enormous amount of culture, technology, and ideas possessed by Western civilization. The Japanese had difficulty distinguishing them all and opted to choose the most interesting ones, eating beef, for example, or embracing the values ​​most likely to make one rich or influential, for example a Western-style education. The writers noticed this fact and had two choices: go all in on Western culture or slow down and enjoy traditional beliefs. Kanagaki Robun and Nagai Kofu took this last idea, encouraging the Japanese reader to take a step or two back and enjoy what their culture has done for generations..