對於日本人而言，上海是一個最受矚目的「異鄉」。從明治時期起日本人對於上海逐漸興起了旅遊的熱潮，到了二次大戰期間，定居於上海的人口更趨近十萬人。換言之，釐清上海與日本間的關係可說是理解近代日本的重要關鍵之一。 不同於明治時期的志士、外交官，大正時期現身於上海者多為文學者。造成大批文人前往上海的理由不盡相同，當然跟大正時期海上交通方便有關，文人可以輕易地前往中國。另外，有些文學家為了突破寫作的瓶頸，意圖透過遍覽異國景物來為自己的寫作風格注入新意，而另一個重大理由可能跟當時追求「異國趣味」的風潮有關，上海即成為這些文學家探尋「異國情趣」的重要地點。而究竟這些文學家在上海發現了多少「異國情趣」？本研究即是基於這樣的問題意識，特別鎖定河東碧梧桐、芥川龍之介、谷崎潤一郎、村松梢風等文學家來進行其筆下的上海形象的探討。

From the Japanese point of view, as Shanghai is a "foreign land" which attracts much of their attention, there has been a gradually increasing of Japanese tourism to Shanghai since the mid 19th century. Up until the World War II period, Shanghai's population reached nearly one million. In other words, a clarification of the relationship between Shanghai and Japan can be said to be one of the important keys in order to understand modern Japan. Unlike the Meiji era's patriots and diplomats, during the Taisho period, most Japanese in Shanghai were literary scholars. The chief reason why a large number of scholars went to Shanghai varies, but certainly it is related to the convenience of sea transportation during the Taisho period. As a result, the Scholars could go to China easily. Moreover, some writers, in order to breakthrough their bottleneck in writing, were intent on viewing the exotic scenery themselves to inject new ideas in their own writing style. Another major reason might be the pursuit of an "exotic interest." Therefore, at that time, Shanghai instantly becomes an important place for these writers to explore "exoticism". However, have these writers discovered much about "exoticism" after all? This study is based on an awareness of such a problem, in particular is a concentration on writers such as Kawahigasi-goto, Akutagawa-ryunosuke, Tanizaki-jyunicirou, Muramatsu-shouhu etc, in order to examine the exploration of and description of the Shanghai image by these writers.