Nakazato Kaizan

Nakazato Kaizan

Nakazato's tomb

Nakazato Kaizan ( Japanese 中 里 介 山 actually Nakazato Yanosuke (中 里 弥 之 助); born April 4, 1885 in Hamura (羽 村), Nishitama County (西多摩 郡) ( Kanagawa Prefecture ); died April 28, 1944 in Hayama) was a Japanese writer.

Live and act

Nakazato Kaizan grew up in poverty and was attracted to the "Movement for Freedom and Rights" (自由民 権 運動, Jiyū minken undō) and the ideas of the Christian-oriented Uchimura Kanzō . He also studied Buddhism and became known as a dedicated pacifist. He became an employee of the newspaper "Miyako Shimbun" (都 新聞) and decided to become a writer.

The publication of the beginning of his sequel story - perhaps his masterpiece and probably the most successful book in the "Folk Tales" category - namely "Daibosatsu Tōge" (大 菩薩 峠), appeared in the Miyako Shimbun in 1913, but only with the appearance of another episode in 1925 the story won national recognition in the Tōkyō Shimbun and other newspapers. The series went on until the release of the 32nd episode in 1941 but was not completed.

Daibutsu Tōge, in German "The Great Boddhisatva Mountain Pass", is set against the background of the events in the politically troubled times of the 1850s and 1860s, which ultimately led to the Meiji Restoration in 1868. In his figurative work, one person stands out, the sword master Tsukue Ryūnosuke (机 竜 之 助). He was the first character in a folk novel to emerge as a fascinating individual.

The narrative lacks a clear line, it is rather a series of episodes, each dealing with life stories connected with suffering, death and human blindness to the truth. At the same time, Nakazato deals with incidents of the time, for example the peasant uprisings, and thus gives the stories historical depth. One reason for the great popularity of the Bosatsu Tōge during the 1920s could have been its timelessness: readers who suffered from the economic difficulties after World War I and the destruction of the Kantō earthquake in 1923 could identify with the nihilistic hero. Illustrations were created by Ishii Tsuruzō . In 1965 the story of Kihachi Okamoto was made into a film. The German title is The Sword of Doom .

In 1920 Nakazato had withdrawn from working on the Miyako newspaper. He settled in his hometown of Hamura and started a school based on agricultural principles. He traveled all over Japan, Korea, China and the USA. During the Pacific War , unlike many of his colleagues, he did not give up his pacifist views and refused to contribute anything positive to the war with his literary talent.

From 1970 to 1972 Nakazato's "Collected Works" (中 里 介 山 全集, Nalazato Kaizan zenshū) appeared in 20 volumes.

Remarks

1. ↑ The tomb is in Hayama at the Zenrin-ji Temple.
2. ↑ Today Hamura , Tōkyō Prefecture .
3. ↑ The Daibosatsu-tōge is a pass near the city of Kōshū ( Yamanashi Prefecture ) with a height of 1,897 m.

literature

• S. Noma (Ed.): Nakazato Kaizan . In: Japan. An Illustrated Encyclopedia. Kodansha, 1993. ISBN 4-06-205938-X , p. 1043.

Web links

• Biographies Nakazato Kaizan in the Kotobank, Japanese

Japanese name: As is common in Japan, the family name comes before the first name in this article . Thus Nakazato is the family name, Kaizan the first name.