Noguchi Fujio

Noguchi Fujio ( Nogutschi Fudschio , Japanese 野 口 冨 士 男 , real name Hirai Fujio ; born July 4, 1911 in Tokyo - Kōjimachi ; † November 22, 1993 ) was a Japanese writer.

Life

Noguchi Fujio was born on July 4, 1911 in Kōjimachi , now part of the Tokyo district of Chiyoda . His parents divorced in 1913. He spent his school days at the Keiō-Gijuku elementary school, where Okamoto Tarō was one of his classmates, and then at the Keiō middle school. He also attended the preparatory stage of the literary faculty of Keiō University, but had to repeat a year and left school in 1930. He decided to study literature in 1933 at the Bunka Gakuin (literally "cultural institute").

After graduation, he worked as an editor of the magazine Kōdō in the publishing department of the trading company Kinokuniya . When the publishing department went bankrupt in 1935, he worked for the Miyako Shimbun (lit. "(Tokyo) capital newspaper") and in the following period also wrote for magazines that were published by various literary associations, including the Arakure and Gendai Bungaku - magazine. In the period from 1936 to 1937 he found employment with the Kawade Publishing House ( Kawade Shobō ). In 1937 he entered his mother's family register and officially took the name Hirai .

During the Second World War he was called up for service in the naval forces, but was finally dismissed because of malnutrition. Around 1950 he devoted himself to the life and work of Tokuda-Shūseis under the impression that his own literary work had reached a dead end . In almost ten years of work, he succeeded in specifying his life data, whereupon he began to write down a biography, albeit practically without income. He wrote: I have a family of three, and yet four live in my home: in addition to my wife and one son, there is a roommate named Tokuda Shūsei. During this time he converted part of his house in Tokyo- Totsuka (now part of the Tokyo district of Shinjuku ) into a student residence.

In 1965 he received the Mainichi Art Prize for his Tokuda Shūsei biography (donated by the Mainichi Shimbun ). During this time he returned to the path of his own writing and received numerous prizes (see below).

In 1987 he became a member of the Japanese Academy of Arts. Since 1984 he has been chairman of the board of the Japanese Writers' Association (Nihon-Bungeika-Kyōkai).

Noguchi Fujio died in 1993 due to breathing difficulties.

Prizes and awards

• 1975: Yomiuri Literature Prize (Category: Essays and Travel Descriptions) for Wa ga Kafū ( わ が 荷風 )
• 1978: Yomiuri Literature Prize (Category: Fiction ) for Kakute arikeri ( か く て あ り け り )
• 1980: Kawabata Yasunari Literature Prize for Naginoha-kō ( な ぎ の 葉 考 )
• 1982: Japanese Academy of Arts Prize
• 1986: Kikuchi Kan Prize for Kanshokuteki-Shōwa-bundanshi ( 感触 的 昭和 文壇 史 )

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