was a Japanese writer of short stories, novels, dramas and screenplays. He repeatedly collaborated on the films of director

Kenji Mizoguchi was a Japanese film director and screenwriter, who directed about one hundred films during his career between 1923 and 1956. His most acclaimed works include ''The Story of the Last Chrysanthemums'' (1939), ''The Life of Oharu'' (1952), ''Uget ...

Biography

Kawaguchi was born in the plebeian

Asakusa is a district in Taitō, Tokyo, Japan. It is known as the location of the Sensō-ji, a Buddhist temple dedicated to the bodhisattva Kannon. There are several other temples in Asakusa, as well as various festivals, such as the . History The ...

district of

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 ...

into an impoverished family. He was forced to leave home at the age of 14 to seek employment. He started to write in his spare time, while working at various jobs, which included working in a

pawn shop A pawnbroker is an individual or business (pawnshop or pawn shop) that offers secured loans to people, with items of personal property used as collateral. The items having been ''pawned'' to the broker are themselves called ''pledges'' or ...

, as a tailor, a policeman and as a postman at one point in his life. He came to be acquainted with author

Kubota Mantaro Kubota machine is a Japanese multinational corporation based in Osaka. It was established in 1890. The corporation produces many products including tractors and other agricultural machinery, construction equipment, engines, vending machines, p ...

, who encouraged him in his literary efforts. Kawaguchi was arrested in

Kamakura, Kanagawa is a city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. Kamakura has an estimated population of 172,929 (1 September 2020) and a population density of 4,359 persons per km² over the total area of . Kamakura was designated as a city on 3 November 1939. Kamak ...

in 1933, along with fellow literati

Kume Masao is a town located in Shimajiri District, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. The town consists of the islands of Kume, Ōjima, Ōhajima, Torishima, and Iōtorishima. Among the islands, only Kumejima and Ōjima are populated. Kumejima is located approx ...

and

Satomi Ton is a feminine Japanese given name which is also used as a surname. Possible writings Satomi can be written using different kanji characters and can mean: *里美, "hometown, beauty" *怜美, "wise, beauty" *聡美, "wise, beauty" *智美, "wisdo ...

for illegal card

gambling Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of value ("the stakes") on a random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy are discounted. Gambling thus requires three el ...

. In 1935, Kawaguchi won the first

Naoki Prize The Naoki Prize, officially , is a Japanese literary award presented biannually. It was created in 1935 by Kikuchi Kan, then editor of the ''Bungeishunjū'' magazine, and named in memory of novelist Naoki Sanjugo. Sponsored by the Society for the ...

for a

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...

titled ''Tsuruhachi Tsurujirō''. He followed this with a serialized

novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...

, ''Aizen Katsura'', a

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 ...

tic love story involving a nurse and a doctor, which ran from 1937–1938. The story became a tremendously popular bestseller and gained him considerable fame. It was later made into a movie starring

Kinuyo Tanaka was a Japanese actress and film director. She had a career lasting over 50 years with more than 250 acting credits, but was best known for her 15 films with director Kenji Mizoguchi, such as ''The Life of Oharu'' (1952) and ''Ugetsu'' (1953). W ...

and

Ken Uehara was a Japanese film actor. He appeared in more than 200 films between 1935 and 1990. He starred in ''Entotsu no mieru basho'', which was entered in the 3rd Berlin International Film Festival. His son is the singer and actor Yūzō Kayama. Sel ...

, and was the basis of numerous

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...

. After

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 ...

, Kawaguchi resumed his literary activity, publishing plays and novels. He won the Yoshikawa Eiji Prize for his novel ''Shigurejaya Oriku'', a nostalgic series of episodes involving a prostitute who rose to become a brothel owner. Many of Kawaguchi's novels were adapted to film, and he was long associated with

Daiei Motion Picture Company Daiei Film Co. Ltd. (Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ''Daiei Eiga Kabushiki Kaisha'') was a Japanese film studio. Founded in 1942 as Dai Nippon Film Co., Ltd., it was one of the major studios during the postwar Golden Age of Japanese cinema, producing n ...

. In 1965, he became a member of the Japan Academy of the Arts. He was awarded the

Order of Culture The is a Japanese order, established on February 11, 1937. The order has one class only, and may be awarded to men and women for contributions to Japan's art, literature, science, technology, or anything related to culture in general; recipien ...

by the Japanese government in 1973. His wife was the movie actress

Aiko Mimasu is a female Japanese given name. is a Japanese surname, also romanized as Aikoh or Aiko. Aiko or Ayko is also a traditional male given name in Scandinavia and especially northern Germany. In Germany it is considered one of the old "gentry ...

, and his son was actor Hiroshi Kawaguchi. Kawaguchi won the Yoshikawa Eiji Prize for his novel ''Shigurejaya Oriku'', a nostalgic series of episodes involving a farm girl, sold to a brothel, who rose to become owner of a famous Tokyo teahouse. The story was eventually translated into English by Royall Tyler.

Selected works

Novels and short stories

* 1934: ''Tsuruhachi Tsurujirō'' * 1937–38: ''Aizen Katsura'' * 1965: ''Nyonin Musashi'' * 1969: ''Shigurejaya Oriku''

Screenplays

* 1939: ''

The Story of the Last Chrysanthemums , also titled ''The Story of the Last Chrysanthemum'' and ''The Story of the Late Chrysanthemums'', is a 1939 Japanese drama film directed by Kenji Mizoguchi. Based on a short story by Shōfu Muramatsu, it follows an onnagata (male actor speciali ...

'' * 1953: ''

Ugetsu , is a 1953 Japanese historical drama and fantasy film directed by Kenji Mizoguchi starring Masayuki Mori and Machiko Kyō. It is based on two stories in Ueda Akinari's 1776 book of the same name, combining elements of the ''jidaigeki'' (peri ...

'' * 1953: ''

A Geisha is a 1953 Japanese drama film directed by Kenji Mizoguchi, centred on the geisha milieu in post-war Gion, Kyoto. It is based on a novel by Matsutarō Kawaguchi. Plot Eiko is in the search of the okiya (geisha house) run by the geisha Miyoharu. ...

References

Bibliography

* Kawaguchi, Matsutarō. ''Mistress Oriku: Stories from a Tokyo Teahouse''. Tran, Royall Tyler. Tuttle Publishing (2007). * Wakashiro, Kiiko. ''Sora yori no koe: Watakushi no Kawaguchi Matsutaro''. Bungei Shunju (1988).

External links

J'Lit , Authors : Matsutaro Kawaguchi , Books from Japan
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kawaguchi, Matsutaro 1899 births 1985 deaths People from Tokyo Japanese writers Japanese screenwriters 20th-century Japanese novelists 20th-century Japanese short story writers 20th-century Japanese male writers