was a Japanese novelist active in the
Taishō period.
Early life
Zenzō Kasai was born in what is now part of
Hirosaki, Aomori
is a city located in western Aomori Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 163,639 in 71,044 households, and a population density of . The total area of the city is .
Hirosaki developed as a castle town for the 100,000 ''k ...
, as the eldest son of a rice merchant. His parents died when he was two years old, and he was shuffled to relatives around
Hokkaido
is the list of islands of Japan by area, second-largest island of Japan and comprises the largest and northernmost prefectures of Japan, prefecture, making up its own list of regions of Japan, region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō fr ...
and Aomori. He was only able to receive a primary school education. His relatives were resolved that he should become a
Buddhist
Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
priest, but he moved to
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 ...
at the age of 15 in order to find work, and to pursue a literary career. After working as an employee of a railroad, and as a forester, he saved up enough money to take classes at
Toyo University
is a private university with the main Hakusan Station (Tokyo), Hakusan campus in Bunkyō, Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan. The university operates multiple satellite campuses in the Kanto region, including. Asaka, Saitama, Asaka, Kawagoe, Saitama, Kawagoe, ...
and
Waseda University
Waseda University (Japanese: ), abbreviated as or , is a private university, private research university in Shinjuku, Tokyo. Founded in 1882 as the Tōkyō Professional School by Ōkuma Shigenobu, the fifth Prime Minister of Japan, prime ministe ...
, he met aspiring author
Kazuo Hirotsu
was a Japanese novelist, literary critic and translator active in the Shōwa period.
Early life
Hirotsu was born in the Ushigome neighborhood in Tokyo as the second son of the noted novelist Hirotsu Ryurō, whose pupils included Kafū Nagai.' ...
, and ended up as a disciple of author
Tokuda Shusei Tokuda (written: ) is a Japanese surname. Notable people with the surname include:
*, Japanese badminton player
*Jill Tokuda, American politician
*Keiichi Tokuda, Japanese engineer
*Kip Tokuda (1946–2013), American social worker and politician
*, ...
. He studied
philosophy
Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...
, literature and English literature, but dropped out of school when he felt that he had learned enough (and when his money ran out).
Literary career
In 1912, Kasai joined Shigeo Funaki and
Kazuo Hirotsu
was a Japanese novelist, literary critic and translator active in the Shōwa period.
Early life
Hirotsu was born in the Ushigome neighborhood in Tokyo as the second son of the noted novelist Hirotsu Ryurō, whose pupils included Kafū Nagai.' ...
in founding a new
literary magazine, ''Kiseki'' ("Miracle"), and contributed various works to it. Kasai wrote novels in an autobiographical
naturalist
Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...
style, which was a forerunner of the "
I novel
The I-novel (, , ) is a literary genre in Japanese literature used to describe a type of confessional literature where the events in the story correspond to events in the author's life. This genre was founded based on the Japanese reception of n ...
". In 1918, he published ''Ko o tsuretete'' ("With Children in Tow") in the ''Waseda Bungaku'' magazine. The story, in which the narrator is evicted from his home and must wander the street penniless with his children, gained wide recognition. In his subsequent stories and novels, struggles against poverty, illness,
alcoholism
Alcoholism is the continued drinking of alcohol despite it causing problems. Some definitions require evidence of dependence and withdrawal. Problematic use of alcohol has been mentioned in the earliest historical records. The World He ...
, and loneliness are constant themes. His major works include ''Kanashiki chichi'' ("Mourning Father", 1912), ''Akuma'' ("Devil", 1912), and ''Kohan Nikki'' ("Lakeside Diary", 1924).
Kasai lived in
Kamakura, Kanagawa
, officially , is a Cities of Japan, city of Kanagawa Prefecture in Japan. It is located in the Kanto region on the island of Honshu. The city has an estimated population of 172,929 (1 September 2020) and a population density of 4,359 people per k ...
for many years, due to the presence of many fellow writers, and because the sea air was considered healthier for his weak lungs. He died in Tokyo at the age of 41 after a long struggle against
tuberculosis
Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...
aggravated by stress over the collapse of his marriage due to an affair. His grave is at the temple of
Kencho-ji in Kamakura.
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
* Fowler, Edward. ''The Rhetoric of Confession: Shishosetsu in Early Twentieth-Century Japanese Fiction''. University of California Press (1992).
* Keaveney, Christopher. ''The Subversive Self in Modern Chinese Literature: The Creation Society's Reinvention of the Japanese Shishosetsu''. Palgrave Macmillan (2004).
*Miller, Scott. The A to Z of Modern Japanese Literature and Theater. Rowman & Littlefield. (2010).
External links
e-texts of worksat
Aozora Bunko
Aozora Bunko (, , also known as the "Open Air Library") is a Japanese digital library. This online collection encompasses several thousand works of Japanese-language fiction and non-fiction. These include out-of-copyright books or works that t ...
(Japanese site)
bio site in Japanese with photos
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kasai, Zenzo
1887 births
1928 deaths
People from Hirosaki
People from Kamakura
20th-century Japanese novelists
20th-century deaths from tuberculosis
Waseda University alumni
Tuberculosis deaths in Japan