was a Japanese writer of short stories, novels, dramas and screenplays. He repeatedly collaborated on films of director

Kenji Mizoguchi was a Japanese filmmaker who directed roughly one hundred films during his career between 1923 and 1956. His most acclaimed works include '' The Story of the Last Chrysanthemums'' (1939), '' The Life of Oharu'' (1952), '' Ugetsu'' (1953), and ' ...

, and his books were adapted by directors such as

Mikio Naruse was a Japanese filmmaker who directed 89 films spanning the period 1930 to 1967. Naruse is known for imbuing his films with a bleak and pessimistic outlook. He made primarily Shoshimin-eiga, shōshimin-eiga ("common people drama") films with f ...

and

Kōzaburō Yoshimura was a Japanese film director. Biography Born in Shiga Prefecture, he joined the Shōchiku studio in 1929. He debuted as director with a short film in 1934, but, after being denied a promotion by head of the studio Shirō Kido, continued working ...

Biography

Kawaguchi was born in the

Asakusa is a district in Taitō, Tokyo, Japan. It is known for Sensō-ji, a Buddhist temple dedicated to the bodhisattva Kannon. There are several other temples in Asakusa, as well as various festivals, such as . History The development of Asaku ...

district of

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

. He worked in a variety of jobs and studied under

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 due to the influence of his grandmother, who ...

and

Kaoru Osanai , was a Japanese theater director, playwright, and actor central in the development of modern Japanese theater. Biography Kaoru Osanai was born on July 26, 1881, in Hiroshima, the second son of Director of Hiroshima Army Garrison Hospital, Takes ...

. In 1935, he received the first

Naoki Prize The Naoki Prize, officially , is a Japanese literary award presented biannually. It was created in 1935 by Kikuchi Kan, then editor of the ''Bungeishunjū'' magazine, and named in memory of novelist Naoki Sanjugo. Sponsored by the Society for ...

for his short stories ''Tsuruhachi Tsurujirō'' and ''Fūryū fukagawa uta'' and the novella ''Meiji ichidai onna''. The novel ''Aizen katsura'', a melodramatic love story between a nurse and a doctor, was serialised between 1937 and 1938 and made into highly popular film starring

Kinuyo Tanaka was a Japanese actress and film director. She had a career lasting over 50 years with more than 250 acting credits, but was best known for her 15 films with director Kenji Mizoguchi, such as ''The Life of Oharu'' (1952) and ''Ugetsu'' (1953). W ...

and

Ken Uehara was a Japanese actor who appeared in approximately 200 films between 1935 and 1990. A graduate of Rikkyo University, Uehara joined the Shochiku film studio in 1935. After the war, he became a freelance actor, before signing with the Toho film s ...

. During the

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War was fought between the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China and the Empire of Japan between 1937 and 1945, following a period of war localized to Manchuria that started in 1931. It is considered part ...

, Kawaguchi became a member of the

Pen butai The was a Japanese government organisation which existed between 1938 and 1942. It was composed of Japanese authors who travelled the front during the Second Sino-Japanese War to write favourably of Japan's war efforts in China. History The Pen ...

("Pen brigade"), a government-sponsored group of writers who had access to off-limits war areas and were in return expected to write favourably of Japan's war efforts in China. In 1940, Kawaguchi joined the theatre group Shinsei Shinpa, where he wrote plays and directed. Starting in the 1930s, Kawaguchi adapted other writers' works for films of director Kenji Mizoguchi such as ''

The Story of the Last Chrysanthemums , also titled ''The Story of the Last Chrysanthemum'' and ''The Story of the Late Chrysanthemums'', is a 1939 Japanese drama film directed by Kenji Mizoguchi. Based on a short story by Shōfu Muramatsu, it follows an onnagata (male actor special ...

'' (1939). Mizoguchi in return adapted works by Kawaguchi, such as ''Ayen kyo'' for ''The Straits of Love and Hate'' (1937). After the

war War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

, the two collaborated on the films ''

Ugetsu ''Ugetsu'' (雨月物語, ''Ugetsu Monogatari'', lit. "Rain-moon tales") is a 1953 Japanese period fantasy film directed by Kenji Mizoguchi starring Masayuki Mori and Machiko Kyō. It is based on the stories "The House in the Thicket" and "Th ...

'' (1953), ''

The Crucified Lovers , also titled ''A Story from Chikamatsu'', is a 1954 Japanese drama film directed by Kenji Mizoguchi. It was adapted from Monzaemon Chikamatsu's 1715 bunraku play ''Daikyōji mukashi goyomi''. Plot In Edo-period Japan, Mohei is an apprentice ...

'' (1954) and ''

Princess Yang Kwei Fei is a 1955 historical film directed by Kenji Mizoguchi. It was a co-production between Japan's Daiei Film and Hong Kong's Shaw & Sons (later Shaw Brothers). It is one of Mizoguchi's two colour films, the other being '' Tales of the Taira Clan'', ...

'' (1955), and Mizoguchi again adapted a story by Kawaguchi for his 1953 film ''

A Geisha is a 1953 Japanese drama film directed by Kenji Mizoguchi, centred on the geisha milieu in post-war Gion, Kyoto. It is based on a novel by Matsutarō Kawaguchi. Plot Eiko is in the search of the okiya (geisha house) run by the geisha Miyoharu. ...

''. Kawaguchi was long associated with

Daiei Film Daiei Film Co. Ltd. ( Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ''Daiei Eiga Kabushiki Kaisha'') was a Japanese film studio. Founded in 1942 as Dai Nippon Film Co., Ltd., it was one of the major studios during the postwar Golden Age of Japanese cinema, produci ...

, where he served as managing director. In 1965, he became a member of the Japan Academy of the Arts. He received the Yoshikawa Eiji Prize for his novel ''Shigurejaya Oriku'' about the owner of a famous Tokyo teahouse. The book was eventually translated into English by

Royall Tyler Royall Tyler (June 18, 1757 – August 26, 1826) was an American jurist, teacher and playwright. He was born in Boston, graduated from Harvard University in 1776, and then served in the Massachusetts militia during the American Revolution. ...

. Kawaguchi was awarded the

Order of Culture The is a Japanese Order (decoration), order, established on February 11, 1937. The order has one class only, and may be awarded to men and women for contributions to Japanese Art, Japan's art, Japanese Literature, literature, science, technolog ...

by the Japanese government in 1973. His wife was actress Aiko Mimasu, and his son was actor Hiroshi Kawaguchi.

Selected works

Novels and short stories

* 1934: ''Tsuruhachi Tsurujirō'' * 1935: ''Fūryū fukagawa uta'' * 1935: ''Meiji ichidai onna'' * 1937–38: ''Aizen katsura'' * 1965: ''Nyonin musashi'' * 1969: ''Mistress Oriku: Stories from a Tokyo Teahouse''

Screenplays

* 1939: ''

'' * 1953: ''

'' * 1954: ''

'' * 1955: ''

Adaptations of his work

* 1937: ''The Straits of Love and Hate'' * 1938: ''

Tsuruhachi and Tsurujiro is a 1938 Japanese drama film by Mikio Naruse. The film about a duo of traditional music performers is based on a short story (and later shinpa play) by Matsutarō Kawaguchi. Plot Tsuruhachi and Tsurujirō, who've known each other since their ...

'' * 1938: ''Aizen katsura'' * 1953: ''

'' * 1957: ''Night Butterfly'' * 1957: ''

Kisses A kiss is the touching or pressing of one's lips against another person, animal or object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely; depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, Passion (emotion), passion ...

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kawaguchi, Matsutaro 1899 births 1985 deaths People from Taitō Writers from Tokyo Japanese screenwriters 20th-century Japanese novelists 20th-century Japanese short story writers 20th-century Japanese male writers