Mei An was first published in daily serialized installments in the Tokyo and Osaka editions of the Asahi Shimbun, beginning on 16 May 1916 and ending on 14 December the same year.

[1] In a letter to the paper's editor, Natsume explained that because of his illness — a combination of bleeding ulcers, intestinal catarrh, and hemorrhoids — he had begun work on the novel only a week before the serialization was scheduled to begin.

[1] While Kusatao Nakamura predicted Tsuda's and Kiyoko's falling in love again, resulting in the grieving O-Nobu's suicide, Kenzaburō Ōe and Shōhei Ōoka saw a reunion of husband and wife after a crisis-inflicted illness of either O-Nobu (Ōe's version) or Tsuda (Ōoka' version) and their recovery with their partner's help.

[1] In addition, four possible endings have been written and published by Mitsuki Kumegawa, Fumiko Tanaka, Minae Mizumura, and Ai Nagai.

[1] In his introduction to his 2014 translation, John Nathan argued that, although Natsume was not able to finish his novel, it does not have to be viewed as incomplete: "The details of the ending are missing, but the essence of his [Natsume's] conclusion is already encoded in the text: Tsuda will not succeed in liberating himself from the egoism that blinds him, and O-Nobu will continue to pursue an exalted version of love that she will not ultimately attain."

[1] John Nathan's translation includes the illustrations by Natori Shunsen that were published with the novel's initial publication in the Asahi Shimbun.