Complex sentence: In 1898, he began writing short stories and studied with the novelist Hirotsu Ryūrō (広津 柳浪), and in 1899 he became involved in writing and performing rakugo and dropped out of the foreign-language school.
Split into simpler sentences: In 1898, he began writing short stories and studied with the novelist Hirotsu Ryūrō (広津 柳浪). In 1899 he became involved in writing and performing rakugo and dropped out of the foreign-language school.