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 a Japanese writer active in
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 ...
Japan. His real name was Yoshihide Takama.
Early life
Gishū was born in rural
Nishishirakawa District, Fukushima, in what is now part of the city of
Shirakawa. He was a graduate of
Waseda University
, mottoeng = Independence of scholarship
, established = 21 October 1882
, type = Private
, endowment =
, president = Aiji Tanaka
, city = Shinjuku
, state = Tokyo
, country = Japan
, students = 47,959
, undergrad = 39,382
, postgrad ...
. While at Waseda, he befriended
Yokomitsu Riichi, whose poetry he would later compare to the
haiku
is a type of short form poetry originally from Japan. Traditional Japanese haiku consist of three phrases that contain a ''kireji'', or "cutting word", 17 ''On (Japanese prosody), on'' (phonetic units similar to syllables) in a 5, 7, 5 pattern, ...
of
Matsui Basho.
[ page 121] After his time in the university, he taught English at a middle school in
Mie Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Mie Prefecture has a population of 1,781,948 () and has a geographic area of . Mie Prefecture is bordered by Gifu Prefecture to the north, Shiga Prefecture and Kyoto Prefecture ...
with his new wife, but returned to the Tokyo area two years later to accept a post as an English teacher at a middle school in
Narita, Chiba
is a city in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 131,852 in 63,098 households and a population density of 620 persons per km². The total area of the city is . It is the site of Narita International Airport, one o ...
.
[ page 257]
Literary career
While a student at Waseda, Gishū founded a
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
Literary criticism (or literary studies) is the study, evalu ...
, ''To'' (“Tower”) together with Yokomitsu Riichi and others, to which he contributed his first story, ''Ana'' (“The Hole”).
In 1935, despondent at the death of his wife, he drifted around Japan and drank heavily, but in 1938, he published his first short story collection, ''Denko'' (“Electric Light”), and two years later, won the 7th
Akutagawa Prize
The is a Japanese literary award presented biannually. Because of its prestige and the considerable attention the winner receives from the media, it is, along with the Naoki Prize, one of Japan's most sought after literary prizes.
History
...
for his novelette ''Atsumonozaki'' (厚物咲).
[ These works were followed by the short stories, ''Ishibumi'' (“Monument”), ''Seifu Sassa'' (“Swift Breeze”) and ''Fuso'' (“Wind and Frost”), which secured his reputation in the literary world.
Gishū moved to ]Kamakura
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.
Kama ...
, Kanagawa prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Kanagawa Prefecture is the second-most populous prefecture of Japan at 9,221,129 (1 April 2022) and third-densest at . Its geographic area of makes it fifth-smallest. Kana ...
, from 1943 to the end of his life and took an active interest in the lending library, Kamakura Bunkō, and the publishing house of the same name.
His experiences as a war correspondent in 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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
led to the short story ''Teniyan no matsujitsu'' in 1948, about two young intellectuals who died on Tinian
Tinian ( or ; old Japanese name: 天仁安島, ''Tenian-shima'') is one of the three principal islands of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Together with uninhabited neighboring Aguiguan, it forms Tinian Municipality, one of t ...
in the Mariana Islands towards the end of the war. This marked a new start for Gishū, who later concentrated on historical novel
Historical fiction is a literary genre in which the plot takes place in a setting related to the past events, but is fictional. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literature, it can also be applied to other t ...
s, with the main subject being historical figures fighting for lost causes. These works include ''Shōan'', about the 16th century warrior Akechi Mitsuhide
, first called Jūbei from his clan and later from his title, was a Japanese ''samurai'' general of the Sengoku period best known as the assassin of Oda Nobunaga. Mitsuhide was a bodyguard of Ashikaga Yoshiaki and later a successful general under ...
, which won the Noma Prize The Noma Prizes were established by Shoichi Noma, or in his honor. More than one award is conventionally identified as the ''Noma Prize''. Noma was the former head of Kodansha, the Japanese publishing and bookselling company. Kodansha is Japan's ...
in 1964, and the Japan Art Academy Prize in 1967.
Gishū died of acute anemia
Anemia or anaemia (British English) is a blood disorder in which the blood has a reduced ability to carry oxygen due to a lower than normal number of red blood cells, or a reduction in the amount of hemoglobin. When anemia comes on slowly, ...
in 1969. Shortly before his death, he converted to Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesu ...
; however, his grave is at Shōrei-in sub-temple of the Zen
Zen ( zh, t=禪, p=Chán; ja, text= 禅, translit=zen; ko, text=선, translit=Seon; vi, text=Thiền) is a school of Mahayana Buddhism that originated in China during the Tang dynasty, known as the Chan School (''Chánzong'' 禪宗), and ...
-sect temple of Engaku-ji
, or Engaku-ji (円覚寺), is one of the most important Zen Buddhist temple complexes in Japan and is ranked second among Kamakura's Five Mountains. It is situated in the city of Kamakura, in Kanagawa Prefecture to the south of Tokyo.
Found ...
in Kamakura. A memorial museum was opened in his home town of Shirakawa in 1993.
Awards
*1938 Akutagawa Prize
The is a Japanese literary award presented biannually. Because of its prestige and the considerable attention the winner receives from the media, it is, along with the Naoki Prize, one of Japan's most sought after literary prizes.
History
...
---''Atsumonozaki'',『厚物咲』
*1964 Noma Literary Award---''Sakuan'',『咲庵』
*1966 Award of the Japan Art Academy---''Sakuan'',『咲庵』
See also
*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-Japan ...
*List of Japanese authors
This is an alphabetical list of writers who are Japanese, or are famous for having written in the Japanese language.
Writers are listed by the native order of Japanese names, family name followed by given name to ensure consistency although some ...
References
* Kiyohara, Yasumasa. '' Nakayama Gishu no shogai''. Shin Jinbutsu Oraisha (1993). (Japanese)
* Mikame, Tatsuji. ''Nakayama Gishu no rekishi shosetsu''. Shintensha (1993). (Japanese)
*Kataoka, Yoshikazu. ''Introduction to Contemporary Japanese Literature'' (1958).
External links
Nakayama Gishu Memorial Museum, Shirakawa-city, Fukushima prefecture
Notes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nakayama, Gishu
1900 births
1969 deaths
Japanese male short story writers
20th-century Japanese novelists
Japanese Christians
Writers from Fukushima Prefecture
Waseda University alumni
Akutagawa Prize winners
Deaths from anemia
20th-century Japanese short story writers
20th-century Japanese male writers