, pen name , was a Japanese

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

. His daughter,

Aya Kōda was a Japanese writer of novels, short stories and essays. She was the daughter of writer Rohan Kōda. Among her most noted works is the 1955 novel ''Nagareru''. Biography Kōda was born in Terajima, Minami Katsushika-gun, Tokyo, as the seco ...

, was also a noted author who often wrote about him. Kōda wrote "The Icon of Liberty", also known as "The Buddha of Art" or "The Elegant Buddha", in 1889. A house (Kagyu-an or "snail cottage") in which Kōda lived was rebuilt in 1972 by the

Meiji Mura is an open-air architectural museum/theme park in Inuyama, near Nagoya in Aichi prefecture, Japan. It was opened on March 18, 1965. The museum preserves historic buildings from Japan's Meiji (1867–1912), Taishō (1912–1926), and early Sh ...

museum. Kōda was one of the first persons to be 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; recipient ...

when it was established in 1937.

Early life

Rohan was born in the

Kanda Kanda may refer to: People * Kanda (surname) *Kanda Bongo Man (born 1955), Congolese soukous musician Places * Kanda, Tokyo, an area in Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan **Kanda Station (Tokyo), a railway station in Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo * Kanda River, a ri ...

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 37.46 ...

. He went to

Hibiya High School is a Japanese high school founded in 1878 as the . It was well known in the 1950s and 1960s for the large proportion of graduates who gained admission to the prestigious University of Tokyo; though it suffered a decline in the 1970s, as of 2005 ...

and

Aoyama Gakuin is an educational institute in Tokyo, Japan, which comprises Aoyama Gakuin University, Aoyama Gakuin Women's Junior College, Aoyama Gakuin Senior High School, Aoyama Gakuin Junior High School, Aoyama Gakuin Elementary School, and Aoyama Gakuin ...

, but he did not graduate from both schools. He was the son of Koda Shigenobu (1839?--1914) and Koda Yu (1842?-1919), whose father was Koda Ritei, a

samurai were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retainers of the '' daimyo'' (the great feudal landholders). They ...

official serving under the local

daimyō were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast, hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and nominall ...

. Rohan's childhood name was Tetsushiro ("shiro" implying the fourth son) Shigeyuki.

Notable short stories

*"Dewdrops" (1889) *"Love Bodhisattva" (1889) *"

Encounter with a Skull "Encounter with a Skull" is a short story by Koda Rohan. Plot summary The story is told from the perspective of a fictional version of the author with the pen name "Rohan". During his journey to Tokyo, young Rohan enters a small town. He is tol ...

" (1890) *"A Sealed Letter" (1890) *"

The Five-Storied Pagoda ''The Five-Storied Pagoda'' (Gojūnotō, 五重塔) is a novella by writer Kōda Rohan. “It was originally written as a serialized piece of fiction in the intellectual newspaper Kokkai (Diet, or Parliament), beginning in November 1891 and endin ...

" (1891) (translated into English as ''The Pagoda'') *"

The Bearded Samurai ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

Poems

*''Leaving the Hermitage'' (1905)

Novels

*''The Whaler'' (1891) *''The Minute Storehouse of Life'' (unfinished)

In fiction

*The 1960

Kon Ichikawa was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. His work displays a vast range in genre and style, from the anti-war films '' The Burmese Harp'' (1956) and '' Fires on the Plain'' (1959), to the documentary '' Tokyo Olympiad'' (1965), which won ...

film ''

Her Brother is a 1960 Japanese drama film directed by Kon Ichikawa. The film is based on the novel ''Otōto'' by Aya Koda. It was entered into the 1961 Cannes Film Festival, where it won a prize for Special Distinction. Plot 17-year-old Gen takes care ...

'' is adapted from an autobiographical work by Aya Koda. Consequently, the character of "Father" (played by Masayuki Mori) is based on Kōda Rohan. *Kōda Rohan, along with many other historical figures from the

Meiji Restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were ...

, is a protagonist of the 1985 award-winning

historical fantasy Historical fantasy is a category of fantasy and genre of historical fiction that incorporates fantastic elements (such as magic) into a more "realistic" narrative. There is much crossover with other subgenres of fantasy; those classed as Art ...

novel ''

Teito Monogatari is an epic historical dark fantasy/science fiction work; the debut novel of natural history researcher and polymath Hiroshi Aramata. It began circulation in the literary magazine ''Monthly King Novel'' owned by Kadokawa Shoten in 1983, and ...

'' by Aramata Hiroshi. In the first film adaptation of the novel, he was played by veteran actor Kōji Takahashi. In the animated adaptation he was voiced by

Yūsaku Yara is a Japanese actor, voice actor and narrator from Tokyo, Japan. He is affiliated with Vi-Vo. His real name is , and his former stage name was . He is best known for his roles in ''Saint Seiya'' as Sagittarius Aiolos, '' Chibi Maruko-chan'' as ...

. *In Part 4 of

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hirohiko Araki. It was originally serialized in Shueisha's ''shōnen'' manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' from 1987 to 2004, and was transferred to the monthly ''seinen'' manga ...

: Diamond is Unbreakable, by

Hirohiko Araki is a Japanese manga artist. He is best known for his long-running series ''JoJo's Bizarre Adventure'', which began publication in ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' in 1987 and has over 120 million copies in circulation, making it one of the best-selling ...

, the character Kishibe Rohan has his name based on that of Kōda Rohan's pen name.

References

*Mulhern, Rohan Kishibe - ''Koda Rohan'', Twayne Publishers, 1977 *Rimer, J. Thomas - ''The Columbia Anthology Of Modern Japanese Literature'', Columbia University Press 2005

External links

''The_Pagoda'',_trans._Sakae_Shioya_(1909)_[pdf_online
/nowiki>.html" ;"title="df online">''The Pagoda'', trans. Sakae Shioya (1909) [pdf online
/nowiki>">df online">''The Pagoda'', trans. Sakae Shioya (1909) [pdf online
/nowiki> 1867 births 1947 deaths 19th-century Japanese novelists Recipients of the Order of Culture {{Japan-writer-stub