In this paper, I analyze the meaning of the declaration of the gesakusha stance (戯作者宣言, gesakusha sengen) of the Japanese modern writer Nagai Kafū (永井荷風, 1879-1959), in relation to the deleterious circumstances that he faced in the early 1910s and the consequences they had on his personal and artistic life. In these years, Kafū was experiencing hard times because of the censorship system put in place by the Japanese authorities during the Meiji period (明治時代, 1868-1912) and further enforced after the High Treason Incident (大逆事件, taigyaku jiken) of 1910-1911. The years immediately following this incident were indeed complicated for him, as he was struggling to find his way of artistic expression as a narrative writer in a country where, in his opinion at least, art was neither valued nor encouraged by the establishment. At the same time, these years were also permeated by the most trying personal circumstances of his life, including the death of his father on January 2nd, 1913 and his divorce from his first wife one month later. He married again in 1914 with another geisha from the Shinbashi pleasure quarter, only to divorce once more the following year.