Osamu Dazai
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (February 2023) |
Osamu Dazai | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
太宰 治 | |||||
 Dazai in 1948 | |||||
| Born | Shūji Tsushima June 19, 1909 | ||||
| Died | June 13, 1948 (aged 38) | ||||
| Cause of death | Double suicide with Tomie Yamazaki by drowning | ||||
| Education | Hirosaki Higher School Tokyo Imperial University | ||||
| Occupation(s) | Novelist, short story writer | ||||
| Notable work | |||||
| Movement | I-Novel, Buraiha | ||||
| Japanese name | |||||
| Kanji | 太宰 治 | ||||
| Hiragana | だざい おさむ | ||||
| |||||
Shūji Tsushima (津島 修治, Tsushima Shūji, 19 June 1909 – 13 June 1948), known by his pen name Osamu Dazai (太宰 治, Dazai Osamu), was a Japanese novelist and author.[1] A number of his most popular works, such as The Setting Sun (斜陽, Shayō) and No Longer Human (人間失格, Ningen Shikkaku), are considered modern-day classics.[2]
His influences include Ryūnosuke Akutagawa, Murasaki Shikibu and Fyodor Dostoyevsky. His last book, No Longer Human, is his most popular work outside of Japan.
A pseudonym he used was Shunpei Kuroki (黒木 舜平), on the book Illusion of the Cliffs (断崖の錯覚, Dangai no Sakkaku).
Early life
[edit]
Shūji Tsushima was born on June 19, 1909, the eighth surviving child of a wealthy landowner[3] and politician[1] in Kanagi, located in the northern tip of Tōhoku in Aomori Prefecture. He was the tenth of eleven children born to his parents. At the time of his birth, the huge, newly-completed Tsushima mansion, where he would spend his early years, was home to some thirty family members.[4] The Tsushima family was of obscure peasant origins, with Dazai's great-grandfather building up the family's wealth as a moneylender, and his son increasing it further. They quickly rose in power and, after some time, became highly respected across the region.[5]
Dazai's father, Gen'emon, was a younger son of the Matsuki family, which due to "its exceedingly 'feudal' tradition" had no use for sons other than the eldest son and heir. As a result, Gen'emon was adopted into the Tsushima family to marry the eldest daughter, Tane. He became involved in politics due to his position as one of the four wealthiest landowners in the prefecture, and was offered membership into the House of Peers.[5] This caused Dazai's father to be absent during much of his early childhood; with his mother, Tane, being ill,[6] Dazai was brought up mostly by the family's servants and his aunt Kiye.[7]
Education and literary beginnings
[edit]In 1916, Dazai began his education at Kanagi Elementary.[8] On March 4, 1923, his father Gen'emon died from lung cancer.[9] A month later, in April, Dazai attended Aomori Junior High School,[10] followed in 1927 by Hirosaki Higher School, a university preparatory school.[11] He developed an interest in Edo culture and began studying gidayū, a form of chanted narration used in bunraku.[12] Around 1928, Dazai edited a series of student publications and contributed some of his own works. He also published a magazine called Saibō bungei (Cell Literature) with his friends, and subsequently became a staff member of the college's newspaper.[13]
Dazai's success in writing was brought to a halt when his idol, the writer Ryūnosuke Akutagawa, committed suicide in 1927 at 35 years old. Dazai started to neglect his studies, and spent the majority of his allowance on clothes, alcohol, and prostitutes. He also dabbled with Marxism, which at the time was heavily suppressed by the government. On the night of December 10, 1929, Dazai made his first suicide attempt, but survived and was able to graduate the following year. In 1930, Dazai enrolled in the French Literature Department of Tokyo Imperial University and promptly stopped studying again. In October, he ran away with a geisha named Hatsuyo Oyama and was formally disowned by his family.
Nine days after being expelled from Tokyo Imperial University, Dazai attempted suicide by drowning off a beach in Kamakura with another woman, 19-year-old bar hostess Shimeko Tanabe. Tanabe died, but Dazai lived, was rescued by a fishing boat, and was charged as an accomplice in Tanabe's death. Shocked by the events, Dazai's family intervened to stop a police investigation. His allowance was reinstated, and he was released of any charges. In December, Dazai recovered at Ikarigaseki and married Hatsuyo there.[14]
Leftist movement
[edit]In 1929, when its principal's misappropriation of public funds was discovered at Hirosaki High School, the students, under the leadership of Ueda Shigehiko (Ishigami Genichiro), leader of the Social Science Study Group, staged a five-day allied strike, which resulted in the principal's resignation and no disciplinary action against the students. Dazai hardly participated in the strike, but in imitation of the proletarian literature in vogue at the time, he summarized the incident in a novel called Student Group and read it to Ueda. The Tsushima family was wary of Dazai's leftist activities. On January 16 of the following year, the Special High Police arrested Ueda and nine other students of the Hiroko Institute of Social Studies, who were working as activists for Seigen Tanaka's armed Communist Party.
In college, Dazai met activist Eizo Kudo, and made a monthly financial contribution of ¥10 to the Japanese Communist Party. The reason he was expelled from his family after his marriage to Hatsuyo Oyama was to prevent the association of illegal activities with Bunji, who was a politician. After his marriage, Dazai was ordered to hide his sympathies and moved repeatedly. In July 1932, Bunji tracked him down, and had him turn himself in at the Aomori Police Station. In December, Dazai signed and sealed a pledge at the Aomori Prosecutor's Office to completely withdraw from leftist activities.[15][16]
Early literary career
[edit]
Dazai kept his promise and settled down a bit. He managed to obtain the assistance of established writer Masuji Ibuse, whose connections helped him get his works published and establish his reputation. The next few years were productive for Dazai. He wrote at a feverish pace and used the pen name "Osamu Dazai" for the first time in a short story called "Ressha" ("列車", "Train") in 1933. This story was his first experiment with the I-novel that later became his trademark.[17]
In 1935 it started to become clear to Dazai that he would not graduate. He failed to obtain a job at a Tokyo newspaper as well. Dazai finished The Final Years (Bannen), which was intended to be his farewell to the world, and tried to hang himself March 19, 1935, failing yet again. Less than three weeks later, Dazai developed acute appendicitis and was hospitalized. In the hospital, he became addicted to Pavinal, a morphine-based painkiller. After fighting the addiction for a year, in October 1936 he was taken to a mental institution,[18] locked in a room and forced to quit cold turkey.
The treatment lasted over a month. During this time Dazai's wife Hatsuyo committed adultery with his best friend Zenshirō Kodate.[citation needed] This eventually came to light, and Dazai attempted to commit shinjū with his wife. They both took sleeping pills, but neither died. Soon after, Dazai divorced Hatsuyo. He quickly remarried, this time to a middle school teacher named Michiko Ishihara (石原美知子). Their first daughter, Sonoko (園子), was born in June 1941.
The year before last I was expelled from my family and, reduced to poverty overnight, was left to wander the streets, begging help for various quarters, barely managing to stay alive from one day to the next, and just when I'd begun to think I might be able to support myself with my writing, I came down with a serious illness. Thanks to the compassion of others, I was able to rent a small house in Funabashi, Chiba, next to the muddy sea, and spent the summer there alone, convalescing. Though battling an illness that each and every night left my robe literally drenched with sweat, I had no choice but to press ahead with my work. The cold half pint of milk I drank each morning was the only thing that gave me a certain peculiar sense of the joy in life; my mental anguish and exhaustion were such that the oleanders blooming in one corner of the garden appeared to me merely flicking tongues of flame...
— Seascape with Figures in Gold (1939), Osamu Dazai, trans. Ralph F. McCarthy (1992)[19]
In the 1930s and 1940s, Dazai wrote a number of subtle novels and short stories that are autobiographical in nature. His first story, Gyofukuki (魚服記, "Transformation", 1933), is a grim fantasy involving suicide. Other stories written during this period include Dōke no hana (道化の花, "Flowers of Buffoonery", 1935), Gyakkō (逆行, "Losing Ground", 1935), Kyōgen no kami (狂言の神, "The God of Farce", 1936), an epistolary novel called Kyokō no Haru (虚構の春, False Spring, 1936) and those published in his 1936 collection Bannen (Declining Years or The Final Years), which describe his sense of personal isolation and his debauchery.
Wartime years
[edit]Japan widened the Pacific War by attacking the United States in December, but Dazai was excused from the draft because of his chronic chest problems, as he was diagnosed with tuberculosis. The censors became more reluctant to accept Dazai's offbeat work, but he managed to publish quite a bit regardless, remaining one of very few authors who managed to get this kind of material accepted in this period. A number of the stories which Dazai published during the war were retellings of stories by Ihara Saikaku (1642–1693). His wartime works included Udaijin Sanetomo (右大臣実朝, "Minister of the Right Sanetomo", 1943), Tsugaru (1944), Pandora no Hako (パンドラの匣, Pandora's Box, 1945–46), and Otogizōshi (お伽草紙, Fairy Tales, 1945) in which he retold a number of old Japanese fairy tales with "vividness and wit."[This quote needs a citation]
Dazai's house was burned down twice in the American bombing of Tokyo, but his family escaped unscathed and gained a son, Masaki (正樹), who was born in 1944. His third child, daughter Satoko (里子), who later became a famous writer under the pseudonym Yūko Tsushima, was born in May 1947.
Postwar career
[edit] | This section needs additional citations for verification. (May 2019) |
In the immediate postwar period, Dazai reached the height of his popularity. He depicted a dissolute life in postwar Tokyo in Viyon no Tsuma (ヴィヨンの妻, "Villon's Wife", 1947), depicting the wife of a poet who had abandoned her and her continuing will to live through hardships.
In 1946, Osamu Dazai released a controversial literary piece titled Kuno no Nenkan (Almanac of Pain), a political memoir of Dazai himself. It describes the immediate aftermath of losing the second World War, and encapsulates how Japanese people felt following the country's defeat. Dazai reaffirmed his loyalty to the Japanese Emperor of the time, Emperor Hirohito and his son Akihito. Dazai was a known communist throughout his career, and also expressed his beliefs through this Almanac of Pain.
On December 14, Dazai and a group of writers were joined by Yukio Mishima at a restaurant for dinner.[20] The latter recalled that on that occasion, he gave vent to his dislike of Dazai. According to a later statement by Mishima:[21]
The disgust in which I hold Dazai's literature is in some way ferocious. First, I dislike his face. Second, I dislike his rustic preference for urban sophistication. Third, I dislike the fact that he played the roles that were not appropriate for him.[20]
Other participants at the dinner could not remember if events occurred as Mishima described. They did report that he did not enjoy Dazai's "clowning" and that they had a dispute about Ōgai Mori, a writer Mishima admired.[22]
Alongside this Dazai also wrote Jugonenkan (For Fifteen Years), another autobiographical piece. This, alongside Almanac of Pain, may serve as a prelude to a consideration of Dazai's postwar fiction.[23]
In July 1947, Dazai's best-known work, Shayo (The Setting Sun, translated 1956) depicting the decline of the Japanese nobility after the war, was published, propelling the already popular writer into celebrityhood. This work was based on the diary of Shizuko Ōta (太田静子), an admirer of Dazai's works who first met him in 1941. The pair had a daughter, Haruko, (治子) in 1947.
A heavy drinker, Dazai became an alcoholic[24] and his health deteriorated rapidly. At this time he met Tomie Yamazaki (山崎富栄), a beautician and war widow who had lost her husband after just ten days of marriage. Dazai effectively abandoned his wife and children and moved in with Tomie.
Dazai began writing his novel No Longer Human (人間失格 Ningen Shikkaku, 1948) at the hot-spring resort Atami. He moved to Ōmiya with Tomie and stayed there until mid-May, finishing his novel. A quasi-autobiography, it depicts a young, self-destructive man seeing himself as disqualified from the human race.[25] The book is considered one of the classics of Japanese literature, and has been translated into several foreign languages.
In the spring of 1948, Dazai worked on a novella scheduled to be serialized in the Asahi Shimbun, titled Goodbye, but it was never finished.
Death
[edit]
On June 13, 1948, Dazai and Tomie drowned themselves in the rain-swollen Tamagawa Canal, near his house. Their bodies were not discovered until six days later, on June 19, which would have been his 39th birthday. His grave is at the temple of Zenrin-ji, in Mitaka, Tokyo.
At the time, there was a lot of speculation about the incident, with theories of forced suicide by Tomie. Keikichi Nakahata, a kimono merchant who frequented the young Tsushima family, was shown the scene of the water ingress by a detective from the Mitaka police station. He speculated that "Dazai was asked to die, and he simply agreed, but just before his death, he suddenly felt an obsession with life".[26]
Works
[edit]| Japanese title [Romaji] | English title | Publishing year | Translator |
|---|---|---|---|
| ア、秋 [A, Aki] | A. Autumn | 1939 | |
| 愛と美について [Ai to bi ni tsuite] | About Love and Beauty | 1939 | |
| 老ハイデルベルヒ [Alt-Heidelberg] | Alt-Heidelberg | 1940 | |
| 雨の玉川心中 [Ame no Tamagawa shinjū] | Rain at Tamagawa - Double Suicide | ||
| 兄たち [Anitachi] | My Older Brothers | 1940 | McCarthy; O'Brien |
| 青森 [Aomori] | Aomori | 1941 | |
| 或る忠告 [Aru chūkoku] | Advice | 1942 | |
| 朝 [Asa] | Morning | 1947 | Brudnoy & Yumi |
| あさましきもの [Asamashiki mono] | Something Regrettable | 1937 | |
| 新しい形の個人主義 [Atarashii katachi no kojin shugi] | A New Form of Individualism | 1980 | |
| 「晩年」と「女生徒」 ["Bannen" to "Joseito"] | "The Last Years" and "Schoolgirl" | 1948 | |
| 「晩年」に就いて ["Bannen" ni tsuite] | About „The Final Years“ | 1936 | |
| 美男子と煙草 [Bidanshi to tabako] | Handsome Devils and Cigarettes | 1948 | McCarthy |
| 美少女 [Bishōjo] | A Little Beauty | 1939 | McCarthy |
| 眉山 [Bizan] | Bizan | 1948 | |
| チャンス [Chansu] | Chance | 1946 | |
| 父 [Chichi] | The Father | 1947 | Brudnoy & Yumi |
| 小さいアルバム [Chiisai arubamu] | The Little Album | 1942 | |
| 畜犬談 —伊馬鵜平君に与える— [Chikukendan - Ima Uhei-kun ni ataeru -] | Canis familiaris | 1939 | McCarthy |
| 竹青 [Chikusei] | Blue Bamboo | 1945 | |
| 地球図 [Chikyūzu] | Chikyūzu (or World’s Map) | 1935 | |
| 千代女 [Chiyojo] | Chiyojo | 1941 | Dunlop |
| 地図 [Chizu] | The Map | 1925 | |
| 大恩は語らず [Daion wa katarazu] | A great favour is not expressed | 1954 | |
| 断崖の錯覚 [Dangai no sakkaku] | Illusion of the cliffs | 1934 | |
| 檀君の近業について [Dan-kun no kingyō ni tsuite] | About the latest works by Dan-kun | 1937 | |
| 男女同権 [Danjo dōken] | Gender Equality | 1946 | |
| 誰 [Dare] | Who | 1941 | |
| 誰も知らぬ [Dare mo shiranu] | Nobody Knows | 1940 | |
| ダス・ゲマイネ [Dasu Gemaine] | Das Gemeine | 1935 | O'Brien |
| デカダン抗議 [Dekadan kōgi] | Decadent protest | 1939 | |
| 貪婪禍 [Donranka] | The scourge of greed | 1940 | |
| 道化の華 [Dōke no hana] | The Flowers of Buffoonery | 1935 | |
| 炎天汗談 [Enten kandan] | Bottomless Hell | 1942 | |
| フォスフォレッスセンス [Fosuforessensu] | The Pitiable Mosquitoes | 1947 | |
| 富嶽百景 [Fugaku hyakkei] | One Hundred Views of Mount Fuji | 1939 | McCarthy |
| 富士に就いて [Fuji ni tsuite] | About Mount Fuji | 1938 | |
| 服装に就いて [Fukusō ni tsuite] | About Clothing | 1941 | O'Brien |
| 不審庵 [Fushin'an] | Doubtful Retreat | 1943 | |
| 冬の花火 [Fuyu no hanabi] | Winter Fireworks | 1946 | |
| 玩具 [Gangu] | Toys | 1935 | O'Brien |
| 芸術ぎらい [Geijutsu girai] | Dislike of Art | 1944 | |
| 義務 [Gimu] | Duty | 1940 | |
| 五所川原 [Goshogawara] | Goshogawara | 1941 | |
| グッド・バイ [Guddo Bai] | Goodbye | 1948 | Marshall |
| 逆行 [Gyakkō] | Losing Ground | 1935 | |
| 魚服記 [Gyofukuki] | Metamorphosis | 1933 | O'Brien |
| 魚服記に就て [Gyofukuki ni tsuite] | About the Story of Fish and Clothing | 1933 | |
| 葉 [Ha] | Leaves | 1934 | Gangloff |
| 母 [Haha] | Mother | 1947 | Brudnoy & Yumi |
| 八十八夜 [Hachijūhachiya] | The 88th Day | 1939 | |
| 恥 [Haji] | Shame | 1942 | Dunlop |
| 薄明 [Hakumei] | Early Light | 1946 | McCarthy |
| 花火 [Hanabi] | Fireworks | 1929 | |
| 花吹雪 [Hanafubuki] | Falling Blossoms | 1944 | |
| 犯人 [Hannin] | The Criminal | 1948 | |
| 春 [Haru] | Spring | 1980 | |
| 春の枯葉 [Haru no kareha] | Dry Leaves in Spring | 1946 | |
| 春の盗賊 [Haru no tōzoku] | A Burglar in Spring | 1940 | |
| 春夫と旅行できなかつた話 [Haruo to ryokō dekinakatsuta hanashi] | The Story of How I Couldn't Travel with Haruo | ||
| 走ラヌ名馬 [Hashiranu meiba] | The Unrunning Thoroughbred | 1980 | |
| 走れメロス [Hashire Merosu] | Run, Melos! | 1940 | McCarthy; O'Brien |
| 葉桜と魔笛 [Hazakura to mateki] | Cherry Blossoms and the Magic Flute | 1939 | |
| 碧眼托鉢 [Hekigan takuhatsu] | The Blue-eyed Pilgrim | 1936 | |
| 返事 [Henji] | Reply | 1980 | |
| 皮膚と心 [Hifu to kokoro] | Skin and Heart | 1939 | |
| 火の鳥 [Hi no tori] | The Phoenix | 1939 | |
| 一つの約束 [Hitotsu no yakusoku] | One Promise | 1944 | |
| 一問一答 [Ichimon ittō] | Questions and Answers | 1942 | |
| 陰火 [Inka] | Inka (Will-o'-the-Wisp) | 1936 | |
| 田舎者 [Inakamono] | The Country Bumpkin | 1980 | |
| 一歩前進二歩退却 [Ippo zenshin nippo taikyaku] | One Step Forward, Two Steps Back | 1938 | |
| 弱者の糧 [Jakusha no kate] | Food for the Weak | 1980 | |
| 人物に就いて [Jinbutsu ni tsuite] | About Characters | 1936 | |
| 自作を語る [Jisaku wo kataru] | Talking About My Work | 1980 | |
| 自信の無さ [Jishin no nasa] | Lack of Confidence | 1940 | |
| 女類 [Jorui] | Women | 1948 | |
| 女生徒 [Joseito] | Schoolgirl | 1939 | Powell |
| 十五年間 [Jūgonenkan] | For Fifteen Years | 1946 | |
| 十二月八日 [Jūnigatsu yōka] | December 8th | 1942 | |
| 純真 [Junshin] | Innocence | 1980 | |
| 貨幣 [Kahei] | Currency | 1946 | O'Brien |
| 佳日 [Kajitsu] | Happy Day | 1944 | |
| 駈込み訴え [Kakekomi uttae] | Heed My Plea | 1940 | O'Brien |
| かくめい [Kakumei] | Revolution | 1948 | |
| 鴎 [Kamome] | Seagull | 1940 | |
| 【関連作品】([Kanren sakuhin]) | Related Works | ||
| 彼は昔の彼ならず [Kare wa mukashi no kare narazu] | He Is Not the Man He Used to Be | 1934 | |
| 花燭 [Kashoku] | Wedding Torches | 1939 | |
| かすかな声 [Kasukana koe] | A Faint Voice | 1940 | |
| 家庭の幸福 [Katei no kōfuku] | Domestic Happiness | 1939 | |
| 川端康成へ [Kawabata Yasunari e] | To Yasunari Kawabata | 1935 | |
| 革財布 [kawa saifu] | Leather Wallet | ||
| 風の便り [Kaze no tayori] | News on the Wind | 1941 | |
| 喝采 [Kessai] | Applause | 1936 | |
| 帰去来 [Kikyorai] | Going Home | 1943 | Lyons |
| 金錢の話 [Kinsen no hanashi] | A Story About Money | 1943 | |
| 禁酒の心 [Kinshu no kokoro] | The Heart of a Teetotaler | 1943 | |
| きりぎりす [Kirigirisu] | Cricket | 1940 | |
| 校長三代 [Kōchō sandai] | Three Generations of Principals | 1939 | |
| 乞食学生 [kojiki gakusei] | The Beggar Student | 1940 | Sam Bett |
| 心の王者 [Kokoro no ōja] | The King of the Heart | 1940 | |
| 故郷 [Kokyō] | Homecoming | 1943 | O'Brien |
| このごろ [Kono goro] | Lately | 1940 | |
| 困惑の弁 [Konwaku no ben] | A Plea of Confusion | ||
| 古典風 [Kotenfū] | In Classical Style | 1940 | |
| 古典竜頭蛇尾 [Koten ryūtō dabi] | Classical Dragon Head and Snake Tail | 1936 | |
| 九月十月十一月 [Kugatsu jūgatsu jūichigatsu] | September, October, November | 1938 | |
| 國技館 (くにわざかん) [Kuni-waza-kann] | National Sumo Arena | 1940 | |
| 苦悩の年鑑 [Kunō no nenkan] | Almanac of Pain | 1946 | Lyons |
| 黒石の人たち [Kuroishi no hitotachi] | The People of Kuroishi | ||
| 狂言の神 [Kyōgen no kami] | The God of Farce | 1936 | |
| 虚構の春 [Kyokō no haru] | False Spring | 1936 | |
| 饗応夫人 [Kyōō fujin] | The Hospitable Lady | 1948 | |
| 郷愁 [Kyōshū] | Nostalgia | ||
| 満願 [Mangan] | Complete Satisfaction | 1938 | Brudnoy & Kazuko; McCarthy |
| 待つ [Matsu] | Waiting | 1942 | Brudnoy & Kazuko; Turvill; O'Brien |
| 女神 [Megami] | The Goddess | 1947 | |
| めくら草紙 [Mekura zōshi] | The Blind Scroll | 1936 | |
| メリイクリスマス [Merii Kurisumasu] | Merry Christmas | 1947 | McCarthy |
| 雌に就いて [Mesu ni tsuite] | Female | 1947 | McCarthy |
| 未帰還の友に [Mikikan no tomo ni] | To an Unreturned Friend | 1944 | |
| みみずく通信 [Mimizuku tsūshin] | The Owl Newspaper | 1941 | |
| 男女川と羽左衛門 [Minanogawa to Uzaemon] | The River and Uzaemon | 1935 | |
| 盲人独笑 [Mōjin Dokushō] | The Blind Man's Laughter | ||
| 文盲自嘲 [Monmō jichō] | The Illiterate's Laughter | ||
| 悶悶日記 [Monmon nikki] | Tormented Diary | ||
| もの思う葦 [Monoomouashi] | A Thinking Reed | ||
| 無題 [Mudai] | Untitled | ||
| 無趣味 [Mushumi] | Lack of Interest | ||
| 二十世紀旗手 [Nijūseiki kishu] | A Standard-bearer of the Twentieth Century | 1937 | |
| 「人間キリスト記」その他 ["Ningen kirisuto ki" sonota] | "Reports on Christ" and Others | 1940 | |
| 人間失格 [Ningen Shikkaku] | No Longer Human | 1948 | Keene; Gibeau; Carpenter |
| 庭 [Niwa] | The Garden | 1946 | McCarthy |
| 如是我聞 [Nyoze Gamon] | Thus Have I Heard | 1948 | |
| 女人訓戒 [Nyonin kunkai] | Advice for Women | ||
| 女人創造 [Nyonin sōzō] | Woman's Creation | ||
| 織田君の死 [Oda kun no shi] | The Death of Oda-kun | ||
| 緒方氏を殺した者 [Ogata shi wo koroshita mono] | The Murderer of Mr. Ogata | 1937 | |
| 黄金風景 [Ōgon fūkei] | Golden Landscape | 1941 | Dunlop; McCarthy |
| 思ひ出 [Omohide] | Memories | 1933 | Dunlop; Lyons; O'Brien |
| 同じ星 [Onaji hoshi] | The Same Star | ||
| 女の決闘 [Onna no ketto] | Women's Duel | 1940 | |
| おさん [Osan] | Osan | 1947 | O'Brien |
| おしゃれ童子 [Oshare doji] | The Stylish Child | 1939 | |
| 黄村先生言行録 [Ōson sensei genkōroku] | Mr. Oson's Records | 1943 | |
| 桜桃 [Ōtō] | Cherries | 1948 | McCarthy |
| お伽草紙 [Otogizōshi] | Fairy Tales | 1945 | O'Brien[27] |
| 音に就いて [oto ni tsuite] | About Sound | 1942 | |
| 親という二字 [Oya to iu niji] | The Word "Parents" | ||
| パウロの混乱 [Pauro no konran] | Paul's Confusion | ||
| パンドラの匣 [Pandora no hako] | Pandora's Box | 1945 | |
| 懶惰の歌留多 [Randanokaruta] | The Lazy Game of Cards | 1939 | |
| ラロシフコー [Raroshifukō] | La Rochefoucauld | 1935 | |
| 令嬢アユ [Reijō Ayu] | Miss Ayu | 1934 | |
| 列車 [Ressha] | The Train | 1933 | McCarthy |
| リイズ [Riizu] | Liz | 1940 | |
| 六月十九日 [Rokugatsu jūkunichi] | June 19th | 1946 | |
| ロマネスク [Romanesuku] | Romance | 1934 | |
| ろまん燈籠 [Romantōrō] | The Romantic Lantern | 1947 | |
| 律子と貞子 [Ritsuko to Sadako] | Ritsuko and Sadako | 1942 | |
| 佐渡 [Sado] | Sado | 1941 | |
| 砂子屋 [Sagoya] | The Sandman | 1941 | |
| 最後の太閤 [saigo no taikō] | The Last Taikō | 1945 | |
| 酒ぎらい [sake girai] | The Teetotaler | 1935 | |
| 酒の追憶 [sake no tsuioku] | Memories of Alcohol | 1940 | |
| 作家の手帖 [Sakka no techō] | The Writer's Notebook | 1946 | |
| 作家の像 [sakka no zō] | The Writer's Portrait | 1943 | |
| 三月三十日 [sangatsu san jū nichi] | March 30th | 1943 | |
| 散華 [Sange] | Fallen Flowers | 1945 | Swann |
| 猿ヶ島 [Sarugashima] | The Monkey Island | 1935 | O'Brien |
| 猿面冠者 [Sarumen kanja] | The Monkey-faced Man | 1942 | |
| 正義と微笑 [Seigi to bisho] | Righteousness and Smiles | 1942 | |
| 清貧譚 [seihin tan] | The Story of Poverty | 1936 | |
| 政治家と家庭 [Seijika to katei] | The Politician and the Family | 1943 | |
| 世界的 [Sekai-teki] | Worldly | 1935 | |
| 惜別 [Sekibetsu] | Regretful Parting | 1945 | |
| 赤心 [sekishin] | Sincerity | 1941 | |
| 先生三人 [Sensei sannin] | Three Teachers | 1939 | |
| 斜陽 [Shayō] | The Setting Sun | 1947 | Keene |
| 思案の敗北 [shian no haiboku] | The Defeat of Deliberation | 1936 | |
| 新ハムレット [Shinhamuretto] | New Hamlet | 1941 | |
| 新樹の言葉 [Shinjunokotoba] | Words of the New Trees | 1943 | |
| 新郎 [Shinro] | The Groom | 1943 | |
| 新釈諸国噺 [Shinshakushokokubanashi] | New Interpretation of Country Stories | 1945 | O'Brien[28] |
| 親友交歓 [Shin'yūkōkan] | The Courtesy Call | 1943 | |
| 失敗園 [Shippaien] | The Garden of Failure | 1942 | |
| 知らない人 [Shiranai hito] | Unknown Person | 1943 | |
| 【シリーズ好評既刊】([Shirīzu kōhyō kikan]) | Successful Series | 1941 | |
| 私信 [Shishin] | Private Letter | 1940 | |
| 市井喧争 [Shisei kenso] | People's Disputes | 1942 | |
| 正直ノオト [Shōjiki nōto] | Honest Notes | 1938 | |
| 諸君の位置 [Shokun no ichi] | Your Positions | 1940 | |
| 食通 [Shokutsu] | Gourmet | 1942 | |
| 小志 [Shōshi] | Small Ambitions | 1939 | |
| 小照 [Shōshō] | Little Light | 1942 | |
| 小説の面白さ [Shōsetsunoomoshirosa] | The Fun of the Novel | 1940 | |
| 秋風記 [Shūfūki] | Autumn Wind Story | 1942 | |
| 春昼 [Shunchū] | Spring Day | 1940 | |
| 創作余談 [sōsaku yodan] | Creation Side Notes | 1936 | |
| 創生記 [sōseiki] | Creation Story | 1946 | |
| 水仙 [Suisen] | Daffodils | 1942 | |
| 雀 [Suzume] | Sparrows | 1946 | |
| 雀こ [Suzume ko] | Little Sparrow | 1946 | |
| 多頭蛇哲学 [Ta atama hebi tetsugaku] | Philosophy of the Multi-headed Snake | 1934 | |
| 田中君に就いて [Tanaka-kun ni tsuite] | About Mr. Tanaka | 1937 | |
| たずねびと [Tazune bito] | Seeker | 1946 | |
| 天狗 [Tengu] | Tengu | 1943 | |
| 鉄面皮 [Tetsumenpi] | Thick-skinned | 1936 | |
| 答案落第 [tōan rakudai] | Examination Failure | 1937 | |
| トカトントン [Tokatonton] | The Sound of Hammering | 1947 | O'Brien |
| 東京だより [Tōkyōda yori] | News from Tokyo | 1941 | |
| 東京八景 [Tōkyō Hakkei] | Eight Views of Tokyo | 1941 | Lyons; McCarthy; O'Brien |
| 燈籠 [Tōrō] | Lantern | 1937 | |
| 當選の日 [Tōsen no hi] | Election Day | 1935 | |
| 徒党について [Totōnitsuite] | About Factions | 1944 | |
| 津軽 [Tsugaru] | Tsugaru | 1944 | Marshall; Westerhoven |
| 津輕地方とチエホフ [Tsugaru chihō to chiehofu] | Tsugaru Region and Chekhov | 1938 | |
| 姥捨 [Ubasute] | Putting Granny Out to Die | 1938 | O'Brien |
| 右大臣実朝 [Udaijinsanetomo] | Sanetomo, Minister of the Right | 1943 | |
| 鬱屈禍 [ukkutsuka] | The Hidden Curse | 1940 | |
| 海 [Umi] | The Sea | 1941 | |
| 嘘 [Uso] | Lie | 1941 | |
| やんぬる哉 [Yan'nurukana] | Unbearable | 1937 | |
| ヴィヨンの妻 [Viyon no tsuma] | Villon's Wife | 1947 | McCarthy |
| 容貌 [Yobo] | Appearance | 1936 | |
| 横綱 [Yokozuna] | Grand Champion | 1940 | |
| 雪の夜の話 [Yuki no yo no hanashi] | Story of a Snowy Night | 1936 | Swann |
| わが愛好する言葉 [Waga aikō suru kotoba] | Words I Love | 1936 | |
| わが半生を語る [Wagahanseiwokataru] | My Half-Life | 1937 | |
| 渡り鳥 [Wataridori] | Migratory Birds | 1936 | |
| 私の著作集 [Watashinochosakushū] | My Collected Works | 1944 | |
| 座興に非ず [zakyō ni hizu] | Not Just for Fun | 1936 | |
| 俗天使 [Zoku tenshi] | The Common Angel | 1947 | |
| 善蔵を思う [Zenzō wo omou] | Thinking of Zenzō | 1946 |
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b "Dazai Osamu | Japanese author | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 2022-12-07.
- ^ "Many of Japan's most interesting creative writers cite 'No Longer Human' by Osamu Dazai as their favourite book or one that had a huge influence on them". Red Circle Authors. 4 January 2018. Retrieved 12 May 2021.
- ^ Lyons, Phyllis I. (1985). The saga of Dazai Osamu: a critical study with translations. Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press. pp. 8, 21. ISBN 0804711976. OCLC 11210872.
- ^ O'Brien, James A. (1975). Dazai Osamu. Boston: Twayne Publishers. p. 18. ISBN 0805726640.
- ^ a b Lyons 1985, pp. 21–22.
- ^ O'Brien 1975.
- ^ Lyons 1985, pp. 21, 53, 57–58.
- ^ O'Brien 1975, p. 12.
- ^ 野原, 一夫 (1998). 太宰治生涯と文学 (in Japanese). 筑摩書房. p. 36. ISBN 4480033971. OCLC 676259180.
- ^ Lyons 1985, p. 389.
- ^ "Osamu Dazai". City of Hirosaki (in Japanese). Retrieved 2024-12-05.
- ^ Lyons 1985, p. 26.
- ^ Lyons 1985, pp. 28–29.
- ^ Thacker, Eugene (2016-03-26). "Black Illumination: the disqualified life of Osamu Dazai". The Japan Times. Retrieved 2024-08-08.
- ^ Inose, Naoki; 猪瀬直樹 (2001). Pikaresuku : Dazai Osamu den = Picaresque. 猪瀬直樹 (Shohan ed.). Tōkyō: Shōgakkan. ISBN 4-09-394166-1. OCLC 47158889.
- ^ Nohara, Kazuo; 野原一夫 (1998). Dazai Osamu, shōgai to bungaku. Tōkyō: Chikuma Shobō. ISBN 4-480-03397-1. OCLC 41370809.
- ^ Lyons 1985, p. 34.
- ^ Lyons 1985, p. 39.
- ^ 太宰治 (1992). Self Portraits. Kodansha International. ISBN 978-4-7700-1689-8.
- ^ a b Sato & Inose 2012, p. 163.
- ^ Sato & Inose 2012, p. 162.
- ^ Sato & Inose 2012, pp. 163–164.
- ^ Wolfe, Alan Stephen (2014-07-14). Suicidal Narrative in Modern Japan: The Case of Dazai Osamu. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-1-4008-6100-2.
- ^ Sakanishi, Shio. "Publishing Trend." Japan Quarterly 2.3 (1955): 384. "Dazai, a Bohemian and an alcoholic"
- ^ "The Disqualified Life of Osamu Dazai" by Eugene Thacker, Japan Times, 26 Mar. 2016.
- ^ 山内祥史 (1998). 太宰治に出会った日 : 珠玉のエッセイ集. Yumani Shobō. OCLC 680437760.
- ^ "Taking the Wen Away" (Kobutori) and "Crackling Mountain" (KachiKachi yama) in O'Brien (2024)
- ^ "A Poor Man's Got His Pride" (Hin no iji) and "The Monkey's Mound" (Sarudzuka) in O'Brien (2024).
Sources
[edit]- O'Brien, James A., ed. Akutagawa and Dazai: Instances of Literary Adaptation. Cornell University Press, 1983.
- O'Brien, James, ed. (2024). The Real Osamu Dazai: A Life in Twenty Stories. Tuttle.
- Ueda, Makoto. Modern Japanese Writers and the Nature of Literature. Stanford University Press, 1976.
- Sato, Hiroaki; Inose, Naoki (2012). Persona: A Biography of Yukio Mishima. Berkeley, California: Stone Bridge Press. ISBN 978-1-61172-008-2.
- "Nation and Region in the Work of Dazai Osamu," in Roy Starrs Japanese Cultural Nationalism: At Home and in the Asia Pacific. London: Global Oriental. 2004. ISBN 1-901903-11-7.
External links
[edit]
- Osamu Dazai's works in Japanese on Aozora bunko
- Osamu's short story "Waiting" at the Wayback Machine (archived December 11, 2007)
- Osamu Dazai's grave
- Synopsis of Japanese Short Stories (Otogi Zoshi) at JLPP (Japanese Literature Publishing Project) (in English)
- Osamu Dazai at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
- Works by Osamu Dazai at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Academics | |
| Artists | |
| People | |
| Other | |
- 1909 births
- 1948 suicides
- 1948 deaths
- 20th-century Japanese novelists
- Japanese male short story writers
- People from the Empire of Japan
- Writers from Aomori Prefecture
- University of Tokyo alumni
- Suicides by drowning in Japan
- 20th-century Japanese short story writers
- 20th-century Japanese male writers
- Joint suicides
- Aomori High School alumni