was a novelist and playwright active during the

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 ...

in Japan.

Biography

Nagayo was born in

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 ...

, the fifth son of the famous doctor,

Nagayo Sensai Baron was a medical doctor, educator and statesman in Meiji period Japan. Biography Nagayo was born to a family of traditional physicians in Ōmura Domain, Hizen Province (present day Ōmura Nagasaki Prefecture). After studies at the Gokōka ...

. He attended the

Gakushūin The , or , historically known as the Peers' School, is a Japanese educational institution in Tokyo, originally established as Gakushūjo to educate the children of Japan's nobility. The original school expanded from its original mandate of educ ...

Peers' School, and went on to graduate from

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 ...

. Through his school connections, he made the acquaintance of Mushanokoji Saneatsu and

Shiga Naoya 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 he contributed works to the ''

Shirakaba The was an influential Japanese literary coterie, which published the literary magazine '' Shirakaba'', from 1910 to 1923. History In 1910, a loose association of alumni of the prestigious Gakushuin Peer’s School in Tokyo began a literary so ...

'' ("White Birch") literary journal. He is considered a typical spokesman for the humanistic philosophy of the ''Shirakaba'' school. Publication of ''Shirakaba'' was suspended in 1923 after the

Great Kantō earthquake Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements * Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size * Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent People * List of people known as "the Great" * Artel Great (bo ...

, but Nagayo and Mushanokoji collaborated to bring out a new literary magazine, ''Fuji'', the same year. As a

literary critic A genre of arts criticism, literary criticism or literary studies is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical analysis of literature' ...

for ''Fuji'', Nagayo railed against the proletarian literature movement of the pre-war period. His major works include the plays ''Kou to Ryuho'' (1916–1917), ''Indara no ko'' ("Child of Indra", 1921), and the

historical novel Historical fiction is a literary genre in which a fictional plot takes place in the setting of particular real historical events. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literature, it can also be applied to oth ...

''Takezawa sensei to iu hito'' (1924–25). He is best known in the West for his

screenplay A screenplay, or script, is a written work produced for a film, television show (also known as a '' teleplay''), or video game by screenwriters (cf. ''stage play''). Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of w ...

''Seido no Kirisuto'' ("Christ in Bronze"), a story about

religious persecution Religious persecution is the systematic oppression of an individual or a group of individuals as a response to their religion, religious beliefs or affiliations or their irreligion, lack thereof. The tendency of societies or groups within socie ...

Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

Japan, which was one of the entries in competition at the 1956

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world. Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...

References

* Mortimer, Maya. ''Meeting the Sensei: The Role of the Master in Shirakaba Writers.'' Brill's Japanese Studies Library, 11. (2000).

Biography

References

See also