was the

pen-name A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen na ...

of a novelist in

Meiji period The is an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization ...

Japan. He is credited with the creation of the genre in Japanese literature. His real name was Hirotsu Naoto.

Early life

Ryūrō was born in

Nagasaki is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. It became the sole port used for trade with the Portuguese and Dutch during the 16th through 19th centuries. The Hidden Christian Sites in the ...

, Buzen province (present-day

Nagasaki prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Nagasaki Prefecture has a population of 1,314,078 (1 June 2020) and has a geographic area of 4,130 Square kilometre, km2 (1,594 sq mi). Nagasaki Prefecture borders ...

), to a ''

samurai were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retainers of the '' daimyo'' (the great feudal landholders). They h ...

-''class family originally from

Kurume is a city in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. As of June 1, 2019, the city has an estimated population of 303,579 and a population density of 1,320 persons per km². The total area is 229.96 km². On February 5, 2005, the town of Kitano (from ...

domain. His father had been trained as a doctor, and was in Nagasaki studying

western medicine Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care practice ...

at the time of the

Meiji Restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were ...

. Under the new

Meiji government The was the government that was formed by politicians of the Satsuma Domain and Chōshū Domain in the 1860s. The Meiji government was the early government of the Empire of Japan. Politicians of the Meiji government were known as the Meiji o ...

, he became a diplomat, and was involved in the ''

Seikanron The ''Seikanron'' ( ja, 征韓論; ko, 정한론; ) was a major political debate in Japan during 1873 regarding a punitive expedition against Korea. The ''Seikanron'' split the Meiji government and the restoration coalition that had been establ ...

'' issue between Japan and

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

. Ryūrō was sent to

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

in 1874 to study the

German language German ( ) is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and Official language, official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Ita ...

, and subsequently enrolled in the medical preparatory school of

Tokyo Imperial University , abbreviated as or UTokyo, is a public research university located in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1877, the university was the first Imperial University and is currently a Top Type university of the Top Global University Project by ...

, but left without graduating in 1877. The following year, at the invitation of his father's friend

Godai Tomoatsu was one of the Satsuma students of 1865 who were smuggled out of Bakumatsu period Japan to study in Great Britain. He returned to become Japan's leading entrepreneur of the early Meiji period. Early life Godai was born in Satsuma domain (in what ...

, he moved to

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...

, and obtained a position as a bureaucrat in the

Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce The was a cabinet-level ministry in the government of the Empire of Japan from 1881-1925. It was briefly recreated as the during World War II History The original Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce was created on April 7, 1881, initially under ...

from 1881 to 1885. Around this time, he read the Chinese literature classic ''

Outlaws of the Marsh ''Water Margin'' (''Shuihu zhuan'') is one of the earliest Chinese novels written in vernacular Mandarin, and is attributed to Shi Nai'an. It is also translated as ''Outlaws of the Marsh'' and ''All Men Are Brothers''. The story, which is s ...

'' and the Japanese fantasy novel ''

Nansō Satomi Hakkenden ''Nansō Satomi Hakkenden'' ( ja, 南総里見八犬伝, label=shinjitai; ja, 南總里見八犬傳, label=kyūjitai) is a Japanese epic novel (''yomihon'') written and published over twenty-eight years (1814–42) in the Edo period, by Kyokute ...

'' by

Kyokutei Bakin (), a.k.a. (, 4 July 1767 – 1 December 1848), was a Japanese novelist of the Edo period. Born (), he wrote under the pen name (). Later in life he took the pen name (). Modern scholarship generally refers to him as , or just as n. He is ...

. These works, combined with the death of his father, formed a turning point in his life, and he decided to abandon his secure career in the government for life as a writer.

Literary career

In 1899, Ryūrō met Ozaki Kōyō, and joined his literary group ''

Ken'yūsha was a writers' society in Meiji era Japan, chiefly led by Ozaki Kōyō. Ozaki founded the group with and Maruoka Kyūka. Its other members included Kawakami Bizan, Yamada Bimyō , born , was a Japanese novelist.Suzuki, Tomi. ''Narrating the ...

''. In 1895, he published two novels which enabled him to achieve literary recognition: ''Hemeden'' and ''Kurotokage''. These were the first of a new

genre Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other for ...

Japanese literature Japanese literature throughout most of its history has been influenced by cultural contact with neighboring Asian literatures, most notably China and its literature. Early texts were often written in pure Classical Chinese or , a Chinese-Japanes ...

, the "tragic novel", which he created. Heavily influenced by earlier

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characteriz ...

gesaku is an alternative style, genre, or school of Japanese literature. In the simplest contemporary sense, any literary work of a playful, mocking, joking, silly or frivolous nature may be called gesaku. Unlike predecessors in the literary field, gesak ...

'' writing, his stories are filled with improbable or incredible events,

melodrama A modern melodrama is a dramatic work in which the plot, typically sensationalized and for a strong emotional appeal, takes precedence over detailed characterization. Melodramas typically concentrate on dialogue that is often bombastic or exces ...

romanticism Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic, literary, musical, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century, and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate ...

and rather wooden characterization. His plots are typified by an inexorable progression of the protagonist through a series of pathetic and wretched experiences towards destruction dictated by an inflexible fate. His most famous work, ''Imado Shinjū'' (''Suicide at Imado''), was published in 1896. Ryūrō retired from writing in 1908, and died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

in 1928. His grave is at the

Yanaka Cemetery is a large cemetery located north of Ueno in Yanaka 7-chome, Taito, Tokyo, Japan. The Yanaka sector of Taito is one of the few Tokyo neighborhoods in which the old Shitamachi atmosphere can still be felt. The cemetery is famous for its beautifu ...

in Tokyo. The writer

Hirotsu Kazuo was a Japanese novelist, literary critic and translator active in the Shōwa period. Early life Hirotsu was born in the Ushigome neighborhood Tokyo as the second son of the noted novelist Hirotsu Ryurō, whose pupils included Kafū Nagai.'' T ...

is his son.

Notes

External links

E-texts of works
at

Aozora Bunko Aozora Bunko (, literally the "Blue Sky Library", also known as the "Open Air Library") is a Japanese digital library. This online collection encompasses several thousands of works of Japanese-language fiction and non-fiction. These include out-o ...

(Japanese site) * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hirotsu, Ryuro 1861 births 1928 deaths 19th-century Japanese novelists 20th-century Japanese novelists People from Nagasaki

Early life

Literary career

See also

Notes

External links