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 Abe Shōzō, a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

novelist and literary critic active during the

Shōwa period Shōwa may refer to: * Hirohito (1901–1989), the 124th Emperor of Japan, known posthumously as Emperor Shōwa * Showa Corporation, a Japanese suspension and shock manufacturer, affiliated with the Honda keiretsu Japanese eras * Jōwa (Heian ...

of Japan.

Early life

Minakami was born in the upscale

Azabu is an area in Minato,Tokyo, Japan. Built on a marshy area of foothills south of central Tokyo, its coverage roughly corresponds to that of the former Azabu Ward, presently consisting of nine official districts: Azabu-Jūban, Azabudai, Azabu ...

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 ...

. His father, Abe Taizo, was the founder of Meiji Life Insurance Company. In 1891 the family moved to Matsuzaka-cho in Shiba Ward of Tokyo. Minakami attended Keiō High School and played on the school's

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

club. While attending

Keio University , mottoeng = The pen is mightier than the sword , type = Private research coeducational higher education institution , established = 1858 , founder = Yukichi Fukuzawa , endowmen ...

, he was inspired by the works of

Kyōka Izumi , real name , was a Japanese people, Japanese author of novels, short stories, and kabuki plays who was active during the Empire of Japan, prewar period. Kyōka's writing differed greatly from that of the naturalist writers who dominated the li ...

and by a newly appointed professor,

Kafū Nagai was a Japanese writer, editor and translator. His works like '' Geisha in Rivalry'' and ''A Strange Tale from East of the River'' are noted for their depictions of life of the demimonde in early 20th-century Tokyo. Biography Nagai was born Sōki ...

, who was also the founder of the

literary magazine A literary magazine is a periodical devoted to literature in a broad sense. Literary magazines usually publish short stories, poetry, and essays, along with literary criticism, book reviews, biographical profiles of authors, interviews and letter ...

Mita Bungaku ''Mita Bungaku'' (三田文学) is a Japanese literary magazine established in 1910 at Keio University that published early works by young Japanese authors such as Yōjirō Ishizaka, Kyōka Izumi, Hakushū Kitahara, Jun'ichirō Tanizaki,Dawn to ...

,'' launched in 1910. While at Keiō University, Minakami developed a friendship with the playwright, script writer, and director of the Bungakuza Theater,

Mantarō Kubota was a Japanese author, playwright, and poet. Early life Kubota was born in the Asakusa district of Tokyo, to a clothing merchant family. He became interested in stage plays at an early age, largely through the influence of his grandmother, who ...

Literary career

While still a student at Keio University he began his literary career by contributing poems and short stories to ''Mita Bungaku'' and to the mainstream literary magazine ''

Subaru ( or ; ) is the automaker, automobile manufacturing division of Japanese transportation conglomerate (company), conglomerate Subaru Corporation (formerly known as Fuji Heavy Industries), the Automotive industry#By manufacturer, twenty-first ...

''. He established his own literary circle, ''Rei-no-kai'', by gathering his aspiring writer friends at his home. His debut story, ''Yamanote no Ko'' ("Child from Yamanote") was the story of these gatherings, and was published in 1911 in ''Mita Bungaku''. His choice of a pen-name came from a character in one of Izumi Kyoka's stories. After a period overseas, studying

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

in the United States, and touring 16 countries around the world, Minakami returned to Japan in 1916 to accept a position in his father's insurance company. However, he did not give up his literary aspirations, and this job provided him with an insight into the lives of white-collar workers, albeit from the rather lofty position of director of one of Japan's largest insurance companies. Minakami wrote numerous novels in the 1920s and 1930s depicting the lives of common, urban people. His works include a novel ''Osaka no yado'' ("An Inn in Osaka", 1925–1926) and ''Kaigara Tsuihō '' (1918–1940), a collection of essays. After Keio University dropped its financial support for ''Mita Bungaku'' literary magazine in 1925, he (along with Kubota Mantaro) contributed greatly to its re-launch and supported it throughout the 1930s. Minakami continued to enjoy baseball even after he became a writer by arranging games between the ''Mita Bungaku'' amateur baseball team and a team led by rival author

Ton Satomi Ton is the name of any one of several units of measure. It has a long history and has acquired several meanings and uses. Mainly it describes units of weight. Confusion can arise because ''ton'' can mean * the long ton, which is 2,240 pounds ...

. Minakami died of a

brain hemorrhage Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), also known as cerebral bleed, intraparenchymal bleed, and hemorrhagic stroke, or haemorrhagic stroke, is a sudden bleeding into the tissues of the brain, into its ventricles, or into both. It is one kind of bleed ...

in 1940. His grave is at the Tama Reien, in

Fuchū, Tokyo 260px, Fuchū City Hall is a city located in western Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. Fuchū serves as a regional commercial center and a commuter town for workers in central Tokyo. The city hosts large scale manufacturing facilities for Toshiba, NEC a ...

External links

e-texts of Minakami's 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 ...

Early life

Literary career

External links

See also