Even in the Meiji period, the works of Bakin were highly appreciated, and until the early modern literature was established by Shoyo TSUBOUCHI and Shimei FUTABATEI, Japanese literature had been highly influenced by gesaku such as Yomihon.
明治時代に入ってからも馬琴の評価は高く、坪内逍遥や二葉亭四迷によって近代文学が打ち立てられるまで日本文学は読本など戯作の影響を逃れなかった。