Niwa Fumio

Niwa Fumio, 1954

Niwa Fumio ( Japanese 丹羽 文 雄 ; born November 22, 1904 in Yokkaichi in Mie Prefecture , † April 20, 2005 in Musashino in Tokyo Prefecture ) was a Japanese writer.

Life

Niwa was born as the eldest son of a priest of the Buddhist sect Jōdo-Shinshū . When Fumio was 4 years old, the mother left the family with a showman and traveling company. Niwa grew up with his father in the Sogen-ji temple near Nagoya , which was to have a lasting impact on his thinking.

He completed his studies in Japanese literature at Waseda University and settled in Tokyo as a writer in 1932. By his marriage in 1935 he had achieved his first literary breakthrough with Ayu (The Trout). During the Second World War, Niwa was sent to the Pacific Front as a war correspondent. He took part in the battle off Savo Island and was wounded in Tulagi . The war events are reflected in the works Kaisen and Kaeranu chūtai , both of which were censored.

After the war, Niwa turned to a more human issue. During this extremely productive time he wrote more than 80 stories, over 100 short stories and essays. It was during this period that Niwa's probably best-known story, The Hated Age (Iyagarase no Nenrei, 1947) was written. In his late work Niwa turns to the life and thought of Shinran (1173-1262), the founder of Jōdo-Shinshū .

Niwa has received numerous literary prizes. Since 1964 he was a member of the Academy of Arts and for many years President of the Japanese Writers' Union. In 1986 he fell ill with Alzheimer's disease, which made his daughter Honda Keiko the subject of her book Kaigo no hibi ( 介 護 の 日 々 ). Niwa died of pneumonia in 2005 at the age of 100.

Prizes and awards

• 1953 Noma literature prize for Hebi to hato
• 1960 Mainichi Art Prize for Kao
• 1966 Yomiuri Literature Prize for Ichiro
• 1977 cultural order for his life's work

Works

Novels

• Ayu ( 鮎 )
• Zeiniku ( 贅肉 )
• Na no hana toki made ( 菜 の 花 時 ま で )
• Kaeranu chūtai ( 還 ら ぬ 中隊 )
• Kaisen ( 海 戦 )
• Iyagarase no nenrei ( 厭 が ら せ の 年 齢 )
  • dt. The hated age - stories. Translated by Monique Humbert (from English), Berlin Volk und Welt, 1981
• Hebi to hato ( 蛇 と 鳩 )
• Bodaiju ( 菩提樹 )
• Nichinichi no haishin ( 日 日 の 背信 )
• Kinryōku ( 禁 猟 区 )
• Kao ( 顔 )
• Kenshin ( 献身 )
• Ichiro ( 一路 )
• Tamashii no tamesareru toki ( 魂 の 試 さ れ る 時 )
• Inochi narikeri ( 命 な り け り )
• Ueru tamashii ( 飢 え る 魂 )
• Utsukushiki uso ( 美 し き 嘘 )
• Kaihyō no oto ( 解 氷 の 音 )
• Higata ( 干 潟 )
• Tōji Kikyō ( 蕩 児 帰 郷 )
• Unga ( 運河 )
• Mashin ( 魔 身 )
• Yamahada ( 山 肌 )
• Shiki no senritsu ( 四季 の 旋律 )
• Jukai ( 樹 海 )

Essays

• Gorufu sōdan ( ゴ ル フ 談 義 )
• Gorufu jōtatsuhō ( ゴ ル フ 上 達 法 )
• Eiji shūto tassei ( エ イ ジ ・ シ ュ ー ト 達成 )
• Watashi no shōsetsuhō ( 私 の 小説 作法 )
• Waga haha, waga yu, waga jinsei ( わ が 母 、 わ が 友 、 わ が 人生 )
• Ningen Funahashi Seiichi ( 人間 ・ 舟橋 聖 一 )
• Hitowa o hijō no sakka to yobu ( ひ と 我 を 非 情 の 作家 と 呼 ぶ )
• Kizuna ( 絆 )

Web links

• Niwa Fumio - Memorial (Japanese)

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