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__NoTOC__ was a Japanese author,
critic A critic is a person who communicates an assessment and an opinion of various forms of creative works such as Art criticism, art, Literary criticism, literature, Music journalism, music, Film criticism, cinema, Theater criticism, theater, Fas ...
,
playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...
,
translator Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''trans ...
,
editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, organization, a ...
,
educator A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...
, and
professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...
at
Waseda University Waseda University (Japanese: ), abbreviated as or , is a private university, private research university in Shinjuku, Tokyo. Founded in 1882 as the Tōkyō Professional School by Ōkuma Shigenobu, the fifth Prime Minister of Japan, prime ministe ...
. He has been referred to as a seminal figure in Japanese drama. "Wetmore deals cleanly with Japanese theatre as part of the modernization project ..Wetmore notes some of the new attempts within the ''kabuki'' frame then takes us through the work of seminal figures like Osanai Kaoru, Tsbouchi Shōyo, and so on.


Biography

He was born ''Tsubouchi Yūzō'' (坪内 雄蔵), in
Gifu prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Gifu Prefecture has a population of 1,910,511 () and has a geographic area of . Gifu Prefecture borders Toyama Prefecture to the north; Ishikawa Prefecture ...
. He also used the
pen name A pen name or nom-de-plume 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 name may be used to make the author's na ...
''Harunoya Oboro'' (春のや おぼろ). His book of criticism, ''Shōsetsu Shinzui'' (The Essence of the Novel), helped free novels and dramas from the low opinion that the Japanese had of such literature. Tsubouchi's writings on realism in literature influenced
Masaoka Shiki , pen-name of Masaoka Noboru (正岡 升), was a Japanese poet, author, and literary critic in Meiji period Japan. Shiki is regarded as a major figure in the development of modern haiku poetry, credited with writing nearly 20,000 stanzas during ...
's ideas about realism in
haiku is a type of short form poetry that originated in Japan. Traditional Japanese haiku consist of three phrases composed of 17 Mora (linguistics), morae (called ''On (Japanese prosody), on'' in Japanese) in a 5, 7, 5 pattern; that include a ''kire ...
. Tsubouchi's novel, ''Tōsei Shosei Katagi'' (Portraits of Contemporary Students), was one of the earliest modern novels in Japan. His
Kabuki is a classical form of Theatre of Japan, Japanese theatre, mixing dramatic performance with Japanese traditional dance, traditional dance. Kabuki theatre is known for its heavily stylised performances, its glamorous, highly decorated costumes ...
play ''Kiri Hitoha'' (''A Paulownia Leaf'') was influenced by his studies of both the famous Kabuki and Jōruri (puppet theater) dramatist Chikamatsu Monzaemon and
William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
. The play, in turn, influenced modern Kabuki. He also did a complete translation of the plays of Shakespeare, written in the old-fashion language of Kabuki. His modern play, ''Shinkyoku Urashima'', incorporating traditional dance and music, was a popular and critical success. The play was a retelling of a familiar Japanese folk-tale with a
Rip Van Winkle "Rip Van Winkle" () is a short story by the American author Washington Irving, first published in 1819. It follows a Dutch-American villager in Colonial history of the United States, colonial America named Rip Van Winkle who meets mysterious Du ...
-like protagonist,
Urashima Tarō is the protagonist of a Japanese fairy tale (''otogi banashi''), who, in a typical modern version, is a fishermen, fisherman rewarded for rescuing a sea turtle, and carried on its back to the Dragon Palace (Ryūgū-jō) beneath the sea. There, ...
. Besides Shakespeare, he also translated a number of other works from English into Japanese, including
Sir Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European literature, European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'' (18 ...
's ''The Bride of Lammermoor'' and Bulwer-Lytton's novel ''Rienzi, the Last of the Roman Tribunes''. Tsubouchi founded and edited the periodical ''Waseda Bungaku'' (Waseda Literature), which published from 1891 to 1898. Tsubouchi is also noted for the long running ronsō (literary dispute) that he carried on with Mori Ōgai. The Waseda University Tsubouchi Memorial Theatre Museum was named in his honour and houses a large collection of his works. A bronze bust of him was also placed there.


Works


Criticism

*''Shōsetsu Shinzui'' (The Essence of the Novel) (1885)


Novel

*''Tōsei Shosei Katagi'' (Portraits of Contemporary Students) (1885) *''Saikun'' (1889)


Kabuki plays

*''Kiri Hitoha'' (A Paulownia Leaf) written 1894-5, and performed in 1904 *''Maki no Kata'' (1896) *''Hototogisu Kojō no Rakugetsu'' (The Sinking Moon over the Lonely Castle Where the Cuckoo Cries) (1897)


Modern dramas

*''Shinkyoku Urashima'' (The New Urashima) (1904) *''En no Gyōja'' (En the Ascetic) (1916)


See also

* Futabatei Shimei *
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-Japa ...
* Hagiwara Hiromichi—works


Notes


References


External links


Tsubouchi, Shoyo
at
National Diet Library The is the national library of Japan and among the largest libraries in the world. It was established in 1948 for the purpose of assisting members of the in researching matters of public policy. The library is similar in purpose and scope to ...
,
Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

e-texts of Shoyo's works
at Aozora Bunko {{DEFAULTSORT:Tsubouchi, Shoyo People from Gifu Prefecture 1859 births 1935 deaths Japanese writers Translators of William Shakespeare Writers from Gifu Prefecture Academic staff of Waseda University