was a Japanese playwright, screenwriter and translator. He is famous for his critically acclaimed play ''

A Woman's Life ''A Woman's Life'' (''Onna no isshō'', 1945), is the most famous play by Kaoru Morimoto and was the most frequently staged play during postwar Japan. Consisting of seven scenes and five acts, ''A Woman's Life'' tells the story of Kei as she grows ...

'' (''Onna no isshō''), which became one of the most often performed plays in

post-war In Western usage, the phrase post-war era (or postwar era) usually refers to the time since the end of World War II. More broadly, a post-war period (or postwar period) is the interval immediately following the end of a war. A post-war period c ...

Japan.

Biography

Morimoto was born in

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. ...

, Japan, on 4 June 1912 and later moved to

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the ci ...

, where he received a degree in

English literature English literature is literature written in the English language from United Kingdom, its crown dependencies, the Republic of Ireland, the United States, and the countries of the former British Empire. ''The Encyclopaedia Britannica'' defines E ...

from

Kyoto University , mottoeng = Freedom of academic culture , established = , type = National university, Public (National) , endowment = ¥ 316 billion (2.4 1000000000 (number), billion USD) , faculty = 3,480 (Teaching Staff) , administrative_staff ...

in 1937. He published his first plays while still at university. During this time, he was a disciple of

Kunio Kishida Kunio Kishida (岸田國士, Kishida Kunio, 2 November 1890 – 5 March 1954) was a Japanese playwright, dramatist, novelist, lecturer, acting coach, theatre critic, translator, and proponent of Shingeki ("New Theatre"/”New Drama"). Kishida sp ...

, one of the most prominent Japanese playwrights of the 20th century, as well as the main founder of

Bungakuza is a Japanese theatre company. Along with the Mingei Theatre Company and the Haiyuza Theatre Company it is considered one of the "Big Three" among Shingeki theatre troupes. History The company was founded by Kunio Kishida, Mantarō Kubota and ...

theatre group.Rimer, Thomas J., Mitsuya Mori, and Cody M. Poulton. "A Woman's Life." The Columbia Anthology of Modern Japanese Drama. Trans. Ghuohe Zheng. N.p.: Columbia UP, 2014. 182+. Reader.eblib.com. University of Washington Library. Web. May 5, 2015. ''Migotona onna'' (1934), one of Morimoto's earliest plays, was published in the magazine ''Gekisaku'' ("Playwright"), edited by Kishida. In 1941, Morimoto joined the Bungakuza. Morimoto's most famous play, ''A Woman's Life'' (1945), about a young woman who takes over the family's successful trading business that conducts trade with China, was written under the commission of the Japanese military authorities to justify Japan's expansionist policy against China. It was first performed in April 1945 in Tokyo where it was well received. After the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Morimoto was convinced by a friend to revise the play to be compatible with the changed political atmosphere, making rewrites in particular in the opening and ending. The revised version was published in book form on 15 October 1946, nine days after Morimoto's death from

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

, which he had been battling with for a long time. The play's staged versions, performed in Japan, China and Russia, saw additional changes made to Morimoto's text after his death. Morimoto's plays were also adapted for film, in some cases with screenplay written by Morimoto himself. In addition, he wrote original scenarios for the screen. ''

Fallen Blossoms , also titled ''Flowers Have Fallen'' and ''The Blossoms Have Fallen'', is a 1938 Japanese drama film directed by Tamizō Ishida, based on a play by Kaoru Morimoto. Plot Set within a Kyoto geisha house against the backdrop of the 1864 Kinmon in ...

'' (1938), based on his play and directed by

Tamizō Ishida was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. He is most noted for his 1938 historical drama film ''Fallen Blossoms'', which is now regarded as one of the outstanding works of 1930s Japanese cinema. Biography Ishida was born in Masuda (now Yok ...

, another Bungakuza affiliate, is nowadays seen as one of the outstanding Japanese films of the 1930s. ''Dotō'' (1944), based on the story of Japanese scientist

Kitasato Shibasaburō Baron was a Japanese physician and bacteriologist. He is remembered as the co-discoverer of the infectious agent of bubonic plague in Hong Kong during an outbreak in 1894, almost simultaneously with Alexandre Yersin. Kitasato was nominated ...

, was performed by the New National Theatre in Tokyo as a part of their 1999–2000 season.

Major works

* 1934: ''Wagaya'' (わが家, lit. "My home"), one act * 1934: ''Ikka fū'' (一家風, lit. "Family style"), one act * 1934: ''Migotona onna'' (みごとな女, lit. "A magnificent woman"), one act * 1935: ''Hanabanashiki ichizoku'' (華々しき一族, lit. "Hanabanashiki clan"), three acts * 1936: ''Ishō'' (衣装, lit. "Clothing"), one act * 1941: ''Chin fujin'', (陳夫人, lit. "Madam Chen"), adaptation of a work by Soichi Shoji, with

Sumie Tanaka was a Japanese screenwriter and playwright with a feminist agenda. She was a long-time collaborator of film director Mikio Naruse and wrote screenplays for Japan's first major female director Kinuyo Tanaka. A member of the Bungakuza theatre c ...

* 1944: ''Ōgi'' (扇, lit. "Fan"), one act * 1944: ''Dotō'' (怒濤, lit. "Raging waves"), five acts * 1945: ''

'', five acts

Film adaptations

* 1938: ''

'' * 1939: ''Mukashi no uta'' (also screenplay) * 1944: ''Gekiryu'' (also screenplay) * 1946: ''Ai no senkusha'' * 1953: ''Aijin'' * 1962: ''Life of a Woman''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morimoto, Kaoru 1912 births 1946 deaths Kyoto University alumni 20th-century Japanese dramatists and playwrights 20th-century deaths from tuberculosis Tuberculosis deaths in Japan