This novel is based on Sensho's picture postcards and his diary written during his journey, and Toson's lamentation over the young Buddhist priest, who sought the unknown and died lonely in a foreign land, overlaps with Toson's own poetic sentiment, which makes readers' empathy with the main character even stronger.
この小説は旅先で書かれた彼の絵葉書や日記をもとに執筆され、未知を求めて異郷の地で孤独な死を迎えた青年僧への哀惜の情が藤村の詩情と重なり、主人公への共感をより一層強めている。