Shibusawa Tatsuhiko

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Shibusawa Tatsuhiko ( Japanese 澁 澤 龍 彦 , real: Shibusawa Tatsuo ( 澁 澤 龍 雄 ); born May 8, 1928 in Tokyo ; † August 5, 1987 ) was a Japanese writer, translator and literary critic.

Shibusawa studied French literature at the University of Tokyo but was unable to take up teaching as planned due to a tuberculosis disease. It was here that French surrealism and its main exponent, André Breton , found its particular interest. In 1955 he founded the literary magazine Janru with Deguchi Yūkō and Nozawa Kyō .

After translating Jean Cocteau's La Grand Ecart in 1954, he became aware of the works of the Marquis de Sade through Breton . His translation of L'Histoire de Juliette ou les Prosperites du vice appeared in 1959. The publication of the work led to a trial against him and his publisher Ishii Kyōji , which in 1969 resulted in a guilty verdict and a conviction of a small fine.

Nonetheless, Shibusawa continued to translate erotic literature from French and also wrote a biography of the Marquis de Sade. He has also written novels such as Karakusa Monogatari ( 唐 草 物語 ), Utsuro Bune ( う つ ろ 舟 ) and Takaoka-shinnō Kōkaiki ( 高丘 親王 航海 記 ), essays, literary reviews and studies on medieval demonology.

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