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was a Japanese novelist, playwright, poet, artist, and philosopher active during the late Taishō and
Shōwa period Shōwa most commonly refers to: * Hirohito (1901–1989), the 124th Emperor of Japan, known posthumously as Emperor Shōwa ** Shōwa era (昭和), the era of Hirohito from 1926 to 1989 * Showa Corporation, a Japanese suspension and shock manufactu ...
s of Japan. Later on in life he requested that the pronunciation of his surname (as far as was concerned) be changed from the usual ''Mushanokōji'', to ''Mushakōji'', but without much success. He was nicknamed ''Musha'' and ''Futo-o'' by his colleagues.


Early life

Born in Kōjimachi,
Chiyoda, Tokyo , known as Chiyoda City in English,
." ''City of Chiyoda''. Retrieved on December 28, 2008.
is a S ...
Saneatsu was the eighth son of
Viscount A viscount ( , for male) or viscountess (, for female) is a title used in certain European countries for a noble of varying status. The status and any domain held by a viscount is a viscounty. In the case of French viscounts, the title is ...
Mushanokōji Saneyo, who died when Saneatsu was age two. Raised mostly by his mother. Saneatsu was a frail and sickly youth, unable to compete in the physical activities at the Gakushūin Peers' School. To compensate, he developed his debating skills and developed an interest in literature. During his time at this school he became friends with
Naoya Shiga was a Japanese writer active during the Taishō and Shōwa periods of Japan, whose work was distinguished by its lucid, straightforward style and strong autobiographical overtones. Early life Shiga was born in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, ...
, and was introduced by his uncle to the
Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...
and the works of
Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy Tolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; ,Throughout Tolstoy's whole life, his name was written as using pre-reform Russian orthography. ; ), usually referr ...
. Saneatsu enrolled in the
sociology Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...
department of
Tokyo Imperial University The University of Tokyo (, abbreviated as in Japanese and UTokyo in English) is a public university, public research university in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1877 as the nation's first modern university by the merger of several Edo peri ...
, but left without graduating in 1907 to form a literary group with Kinoshita Rigen, Shiga Naoya, Arishima Takeo, and Ogimachi Kinkazu ( :ja:正親町公和). They named the group ''Jūyokkakai'' (''The Fourteenth Day Club''). This group evolved into the '' Shirakaba'' (''White Birch'') literary coterie, and began publishing a literary magazine of the same name in 1910. In 1913, Saneatsu married Fusako Miyagi, a woman to whom he had earlier been introduced by Kokichi Otake. Both Miyagi and Otake were members of the women's literary association (and publishers of the journal of the same name), "
Bluestocking ''Bluestocking'' (also spaced blue-stocking or blue stockings) is a Pejorative, derogatory term for an educated, intellectual woman, originally a member of the 18th-century Blue Stockings Society from England led by the hostess and critic El ...
".


Literary career

As a key member of ''Shirakaba'', Mushanokōji in 1910 published his work in its magazine, '' Shirakaba''. This was followed by , in 1912. Through the medium of ''Shirakaba'', Mushanokōji began moving away from the Tolstoy ideal of self-sacrifice, and promoted his philosophy of
humanism Humanism is a philosophy, philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential, and Agency (philosophy), agency of human beings, whom it considers the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The me ...
as an alternative to then-popular form of naturalism. While his humanism borrowed some elements from naturalism, he in general believed that humanity controlled its own destiny through the assertion of will, whereas the naturalists tended to see the individual as powerless and desperate against forces beyond personal control. With the outbreak of
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, Mushanokōji turned again to Tolstoy for inspiration and for the further development of his
humanitarianism Humanitarianism is an ideology centered on the value of human life, whereby humans practice benevolent treatment and provide assistance to other humans to reduce suffering and improve the conditions of humanity for moral, altruistic, and emotion ...
philosophy. During this time, he published (1915), a play involving a choice between self-love and love for mankind. He relocated to what is now part of
Abiko, Chiba file:Abiko city hall.JPG, 260px, Abiko City Hall is a Cities of Japan, city located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 131,183 in 62,193 households and a population density of 3000 persons per km2. The total area ...
in 1916, together with Shiga Naoya and Yanagi Sōetsu. In 1918, Mushanokōji took the next step in the development of his philosophy by moving to the mountains of Kijō, Miyazaki in
Kyūshū is the third-largest island of Japan's four main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands (i.e. excluding Okinawa and the other Ryukyu (''Nansei'') Islands). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regio ...
, and establishing a quasi- socialistic
utopia A utopia ( ) typically describes an imagined community or society that possesses highly desirable or near-perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia (book), Utopia'', which describes a fictiona ...
n commune, Atarashiki-mura (New Village) along vaguely Tolstoyan lines. Soon afterwards, he published (1919), a novel presenting his image of the ideal human; and (1920), a novel portraying the victory of humanism over ego. His idealism appears in his
autobiographical novel An autobiographical novel, also known as an autobiographical fiction, fictional autobiography, or autobiographical fiction novel, is a type of novel which uses autofiction techniques, or the merging of autobiographical and fictive elements. The ...
(1923), and in the play (1922). The commune also published its own literary magazine, ''Atarashiki-mura''. In the 1920s, while running the commune, Mushanokōji was very prolific in his literary output. However, Mushanokōji tired of the social experiment and left the village in 1926; a dam project forced it to relocate to
Saitama Prefecture is a Landlocked country, landlocked Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Saitama Prefecture has a population of 7,338,536 (January 1, 2020) and has a geographic area of 3,797 Square kilometre, km2 ( ...
in 1939, where it still exists. After the Great Kantō earthquake of 1923, Mushanokōji returned to Tokyo to run an art gallery, and started to sell his own paintings, mostly
still lifes A still life (: still lifes) is a work of art depicting mostly inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which are either natural (food, flowers, dead animals, plants, rocks, shells, etc.) or human-made (drinking glasses, books, ...
depicting pumpkins and other vegetables. Publication of ''Shirakaba'' was suspended after the earthquake, but Mushanokōji went on to bring out the literary magazine, ''Fuji'', with the novelist and playwright Nagayo Yoshirō. During this period, he turned his attention to writing
historical novels Historical fiction is a literary genre in which a fictional plot takes place in the Setting (narrative), setting of particular real past events, historical events. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literatur ...
or biographical novels, such as '' Ninomiya Sontoku,'' about the 19th century farm technologist and agricultural philosopher. Through the 1930s and 1940s, he faded from the literary world. Encouraged by his older brother
Kintomo Mushanokōji Viscount was a Japan, Japanese diplomat before and during the Second World War. Biography Mushanokōji was the third son in the 10th generation of aristocratic Mushanokōji family and born in Kōjimachi, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Chiyoda, Japan. He gra ...
, who was the Japanese ambassador to
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...
, he traveled throughout Europe in 1936. In 1946, he was appointed to a seat in the House of Peers of the
Diet of Japan , transcription_name = ''Kokkai'' , legislature = 215th Session of the National Diet , coa_pic = Flag of Japan.svg , house_type = Bicameral , houses = , foundation=29 November 1890(), leader1_type ...
. However, four months later he was purged from public office by the American Occupation authorities, due to his (1942), supporting the actions of the Japanese government in
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. Mushanokōji made a literary comeback with his novel (1949–1950). He 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 ...
in 1951, and became a member of the Japan Art Academy in 1952. Mushanokōji lived to the age of 90. He died at the Jikei University School of Medicine Hospital in
Komae, Tokyo is a Cities of Japan, city located in the western Tokyo, western portion of the Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. It is one of 30 municipalities in the western portion of Tokyo known as the Tama Area. , the city had an estimated population of 83,218, and ...
of
uremia Uremia is the condition of having high levels of urea in the blood. Urea is one of the primary components of urine. It can be defined as an excess in the blood of amino acid and protein metabolism end products, such as urea and creatinine, which ...
. His grave is at the Chūō Reien in the city of
Hachiōji is a Cities of Japan, city located in the Western Tokyo, western portion of the Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 561,344, and a population density of 3,000 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . It is ...
, close to Tokyo. His home in Chōfu, Tokyo, where he lived from 1955 to 1976 has been turned into a memorial museum.


Ancestry


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-Japa ...
*
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 ...


References

* Mortimer, Maya. ''Meeting the Sensei: The Role of the Master in Shirakaba Writers''. Brill Academic Publishers (2000). * Watanabe, Kanji. ''Mushanokoji Saneatsu (Jinbutsu shoshi taikei).'' Kinokuniya Shoten (1984). (Japanese)


External links


Japanese Literature home pageMemorial Hall


* Yuichi Mori:apprentice * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mushanokoji, Saneatsu 1885 births 1976 deaths People from Chiyoda, Tokyo 20th-century Japanese novelists Japanese male short story writers Shirakaba-ha Members of the House of Peers (Japan) Recipients of the Order of Culture Tolstoyans 20th-century Japanese painters 20th-century Japanese poets 20th-century Japanese dramatists and playwrights 19th-century Japanese short story writers University of Tokyo alumni 20th-century Japanese philosophers