was the proprietor of the Uchiyama Bookstore, whose frequent visitors were both Chinese and Japanese intellectuals before World War II. Uchiyama was a Christian.

Early life

Kanzo Uchiyama was born in 1885, in the village of Yoshii in

Shitsuki District, Okayama was a district located in Okayama Prefecture, Japan. As of 2003, the district had an estimated population of 5,736 and a density of 71.07 persons per km2. The total area was 80.71 km2. Towns and villages * Yoshii Merger * On March 1, 2 ...

. At the age of 12, he was sent out for his apprenticeship to Osaka. He worked for 10 years for a merchant family in Kyoto. At the age of 27, Uchiyama became a Christian.

Shanghai and the Uchiyama Bookstore

At age 28, Kanzo moved to Shanghai, along with his wife Miki, as the overseas representative of Daigaku Megusuri Santendo (a pharmaceutical company). He established his bookstore in 1917 on North Sichuan Road. He changed the location of the bookstore to the International Settlement in Hongkou. His store was frequented by Chinese and Japanese intellectuals, such as

Lu Xun Zhou Shuren (25 September 1881 – 19 October 1936), better known by his pen name Lu Xun (or Lu Sun; ; Wade–Giles: Lu Hsün), was a Chinese writer, essayist, poet, and literary critic. He was a leading figure of modern Chinese literature. ...

Guo Moruo Guo Moruo (; November 16, 1892 – June 12, 1978), courtesy name Dingtang (), was a Chinese author, poet, historian, archaeologist, and government official. Biography Family history Guo Moruo, originally named Guo Kaizhen, was born on November ...

, Jun'ichirō Tanizaki, Sato Haruo and Hayashi Fumiko.

Tian Han Tian Han ( zh, 田汉; 12 March 1898 – 10 December 1968), formerly romanized as T'ien Han, was a Chinese drama activist, playwright, a leader of revolutionary music and films, as well as a translator and poet. He emerged at the time of the ...

, and

Chen Duxiu Chen Duxiu ( zh, t=陳獨秀, w=Ch'en Tu-hsiu; 8 October 187927 May 1942) was a Chinese revolutionary socialist, educator, philosopher and author, who co-founded the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) with Li Dazhao in 1921. From 1921 to 1927, h ...

.Beyond Brushtalk: Sino-Japanese Literary Exchange in the Interwar Period By Christopher T. Keaveney Page 41 By 1932, Uchiyama had become the sole publisher of Lu Xun's works.

Later years

His wife, Miki, died in 1945. The bookstore was closed down the same year. Uchiyama returned to Japan in 1945. After the war, he became the first head of the Japan-China Friendship Association. Kanzo became a friend of

Wataru Kaji or (1901–1982) was the nom de guerre for Mitsugi Seguchi (瀬口貢 ''Seguchi Mitsugi''), a Japanese writer, literary critic, and political activist. Biography Wataru Kaji was born in Kyushu in 1903. He became involved with activism. Kaji wa ...

, subsequently receiving a

will and testament A will or testament is a legal document that expresses a person's (testator) wishes as to how their property ( estate) is to be distributed after their death and as to which person ( executor) is to manage the property until its final distributi ...

following Kaji's abduction by the Canon Agency and attempted suicide. Kanzo is buried in the Wanguo Cemetery.

Early life

Shanghai and the Uchiyama Bookstore

Later years

See also

References

Further reading