, born Tadao Masamune, was a noted Japanese critic and writer of fiction, and a leading member of the Japanese

Naturalist Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

school of literature.

Biography

Masamune was born in Bizen,

Okayama Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Okayama Prefecture has a population of 1,826,059 (1 February 2025) and has a geographic area of 7,114 Square kilometre, km2 (2,746 sq mi). Okayama Prefecture ...

, as the eldest (and sickly) son of an old and influential family of landowners. In 1896 he joined the English department of the Tokyo Senmon Gakko (now

Waseda University Waseda University (Japanese: ), abbreviated as or , is a private university, private research university in Shinjuku, Tokyo. Founded in 1882 as the Tōkyō Professional School by Ōkuma Shigenobu, the fifth Prime Minister of Japan, prime ministe ...

), and was baptized as a Christian by priest

Uemura Masahisa was a Japanese Christian pastor, theologian and critic of Meiji and Taishō periods. Early life and education Uemura was the eldest son of Tojuiro and Tei, of the family of hatamoto (rank of samurai). His birth name was Michitarō. Though h ...

the following year. After graduation, he worked in the university's Publishing Department, and began writing literary, art, and cultural criticism for the ''

Yomiuri Shimbun The is a Japanese newspaper published in Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka, Fukuoka, Fukuoka, and other major Japanese cities. It is one of the five major newspapers in Japan; the other four are ''The Asahi Shimbun'', the ''Chunichi Shimbun'', the ''Ma ...

'' newspaper in 1903. In 1904 Masamune published his first novel, ''Sekibaku'' (Solitude), in the literary magazine ''Shinshosetsu''. Already known for his distinctive criticism, he gained attention as a writer of fiction with ''Doko-e'' ("Whither?"), which was serialised in ''Waseda bungaku'' in 1908 and is regarded his representative work as a naturalistic writer. In 1910, he left the ''Yomiuri Shimbun'' to become an independent writer. His 1911 novel ''The Clay Doll'' (''Doro ningyō'') gained further acclaim. Masamune's early writings in particular have repeatedly been described as

nihilistic Nihilism () encompasses various views that reject certain aspects of existence. There have been different nihilist positions, including the views that life is meaningless, that moral values are baseless, and that knowledge is impossible. Thes ...

and bearing a negative view on life and its delusions, and his criticisms called cynical.

Martin Seymour-Smith Martin Roger Seymour-Smith (24 April 1928 – 1 July 1998) was a British poet, literary critic, and biographer. Biography Seymour-Smith was born in London and educated at Highgate School and St Edmund Hall, Oxford, where he was editor of ''Isis ...

stated that his earlier novels "are somewhat over-ebulliently nihilistic ��but his sense of loneliness – the real subject, it has rightly been said, of the modern Japanese novel – was always authentic". Masamune wrote in a variety of genres; major works include the stories ''Ushibeya no nioi'' ("The Stench of the Stable") and ''Shisha seisha'' ("The Dead and the Living"), both 1916, the play ''Jinsei no kōfuku'' ("The Happiness of Human Life"), 1924, and the 1932 criticism collection ''Bundan jimbutsu hyōron'' ("Critical Essays on Literary Figures"), which was expanded into ''Sakka ron'' ("A Study of Writers") in 1941–42. Masamune received the

Order of Culture The is a Japanese Order (decoration), order, established on February 11, 1937. The order has one class only, and may be awarded to men and women for contributions to Japanese Art, Japan's art, Japanese Literature, literature, science, technolog ...

in 1950, and the

Yomiuri Prize The is a literary award in Japan. The prize was founded in 1949 by the Yomiuri Shimbun Company to help form a "strong cultural nation". The winner is awarded two million Japanese yen and an inkstone. Award categories For the first two years, ...

for Literature in 1960 for ''Kotoshi no aki''. His birthplace has been turned into a museum. Of Masamune's younger brothers, Atsuo is known as a poet and scholar, Genkei as a botanist, and Tokusaburo as a painter.

Selected works

* 1904: ''Sekibaku'' * 1908: ''Doko-e'' * 1911: ''The Clay Doll'' * 1916: ''Ushibeya no nioi'' * 1916: ''Shisha seisha'' * 1924: ''Jinsei no kōfuku'' * 1925: ''The Couple Next Door'' * 1932: ''Bundan jimbutsu hyōron'' * 1938: ''Shisō mushisō'' * 1938: ''Bundanteki jijoden'' * 1941–42: ''Sakka ron'' * 1947: ''Tenshi hokaku'' * 1948: ''Shizenshugi seisuishi'' * 1949: ''Uchimura Kanzō'' * 1949: ''Nippon dasshutsu'' * 1959: ''Kotoshi no aki''

Translations

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References

External links

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Jlit entry
{{DEFAULTSORT:Masamune, Hakucho Japanese writers 1962 deaths 1879 births Recipients of the Order of Culture Yomiuri Prize winners Pseudonymous writers People from Bizen, Okayama