, also known as Tsutomu Minakami, was a Japanese writer of novels, biographies, and plays. Mizukami's major works include '' The Temple of the Wild Geese'', ''Kiga kaikyō'' and '' Bamboo Dolls of Echizen''. His writings earned him, among other awards, the Tanizaki Prize and the Naoki Prize.

Biography

Mizukami was born in Wakasa,

Fukui Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Fukui Prefecture has a population of 778,943 (1 June 2017) and has a geographic area of 4,190 km2 (1,617 sq mi). Fukui Prefecture borders Ishikawa Prefecture to the north, Gi ...

, to a poor family. In 1929, he became a novice in a Zen temple in

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 ...

, moving between the branch temples. Disillusioned by the conduct of the temple's head priest, he left the temple in 1936, the same year in which he finished Middle School. Mizukami entered

Ritsumeikan University is a private university in Kyoto, Japan, that traces its origin to 1869. With the Kinugasa Campus (KIC) in Kyoto, and Kyoto Prefecture, the university also has a satellite called Biwako-Kusatsu Campus (BKC) and Osaka-Ibaraki Campus (OIC). Tod ...

in 1937, but unable to keep up with his schedule while working, he withdrew already half a year later. 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 ...

, during which he worked in a variety of jobs, he studied under writer Kōji Uno, and in 1948 published the autobiographical novel ''Furaipan no uta'' (lit. "Song of the frying pan"). The novel was a moderate success, but the attention received fell short of Mizukami's expectations. As a result, but also due to a divorce and his daughter's illness, he did not publish again before 1959. His novels ''Kiri to kage'' (lit. "Fog and shadow", 1959) and ''Umi no kiba'' (lit. "The sea's fangs", 1960), the latter of which centered on

Minamata disease Minamata disease is a neurological disease caused by severe mercury poisoning. Signs and symptoms include ataxia, numbness in the hands and feet, general muscle weakness, loss of peripheral vision, and damage to hearing and speech. In extreme cas ...

, started his career as a writer of detective stories which incorporated social themes. His autobiographic novella ''The Temple of the Wild Geese'' about the relationship between a mundane priest, his mistress and a young acolyte received the Naoki Prize in 1961. He followed this with ''Kiga kaikyō'' (lit. "Starvation straits", 1962), ''Gobanchō Yūgirirō'' (lit. "The Yūgiri brothel at Gobanchō", 1962) and ''Bamboo Dolls of Echizen'' (1963). Starting in the 1970s, Mizukami repeatedly turned to biographic works, such as ''Uno Kōji'' (1971) about his former mentor, ''Ikkyū'' (1975), a biography of 15th century monk and poet Sōjun Ikkyū, for which he received the Tanizaki Prize, and ''Ryōkan'' (1984) about Taigu Ryōkan, an

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characteriz ...

monk known for his poetry and calligraphy. Mizukami was a member of the

Japan Art Academy is the highest-ranking official artistic organization in Japan. It is established as an extraordinary organ of the Japanese Agency for Cultural Affairs (文化庁, Bunkacho) in the thirty-first article of the law establishing the Ministry of Ed ...

and was honoured as a

Person of Cultural Merit is an official Japanese recognition and honor which is awarded annually to select people who have made outstanding cultural contributions. This distinction is intended to play a role as a part of a system of support measures for the promotion of ...

in 1986.

Works (selected)

* 1948: ''Furaipan no uta'' * 1959: ''Kiri to kage'' * 1959: ''Umi no kiba'' * 1961: '' The Temple of the Wild Geese'' (''Gan no tera'') * 1962: ''Kiga kaikyō'' * 1962: ''Gobanchō Yūgirirō'' * 1963: '' Bamboo Dolls of Echizen'' (''Echizen take ningyo'') * 1971: ''Uno Kōji'' * 1975: ''Ikkyū'' * 1977: ''Teradomari'' * 1979: ''Kinkaku enjō'' * 1984: ''Ryōkan'' * 2002: ''Utsutake no fue''

Adaptations (selected)

* 1962: ''Temple of Wild Geese'', dir.

Yūzō Kawashima was a Japanese film director, most famous for making tragi-comic films and satires. Career Kawashima was born in Mutsu, Aomori in the Shimokita Peninsula. From his youth, he suffered from a paralysis that affected his right leg and arm. He was ...

* 1963: ''Bamboo Doll of Echizen'', dir.

Kōzaburō Yoshimura was a Japanese film director. Biography Born in Shiga Prefecture, he joined the Shōchiku studio in 1929. He debuted as director in 1934, but continued working as an assistant director for such filmmakers as Yasujirō Ozu and Yasujirō Shimazu ...

* 1965: '' A Fugitive from the Past'', dir. Tomu Uchida (based on ''Kiga kaikyō'')

Translations

* * *

Notes

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mizukami, Tsutomu Japanese writers Naoki Prize winners Mystery Writers of Japan Award winners 1919 births 2004 deaths Writers from Fukui Prefecture