Uchida Roan

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Roan Uchida

Uchida Roan ( Japanese 内 田 魯 庵 , real name: Uchida Mitsugi ( 内 田 貢 ); born April 27, 1868 in Edo ; † June 29, 1929 ) was a Japanese writer, critic and translator of the Meiji period . His eldest son was the yoga painter Uchida Iwao (1900–1953), his granddaughter the translator and Slavist Uchida Risako (1928–1997).

Life

Uchida was born in Edo (today: Taitō District , Tokyo). He attended the Rikkyō School (today: Rikkyō University ) and the Tokyo Technical School (today: Waseda University ) to learn English, but without getting any degree. He left school and made rough translations for his uncle Inoue Tsutomu , who worked as a translator in the editorial office of the Ministry of Culture ( Mombu-shō ). He made his literary debut with a long review of Yamada Byōs Natsukodachi , which he published in Iwamoto Yoshiharu's magazine Jogaku Zasshi in 1888 . A year later his first novel Fuji no ippon was published as a serial in the magazine Miyako no hana . He was on friendly terms with Futabatei Shimei and Tsubouchi Shōyō and in the same year read Dostoyevsky's " Guilt and Atonement " in the English translation. Uchida made the Japanese translation three years later in 1892 as a translation debut. A large number of works by the writers Voltaire , Anderson , Dickens , Dumas , Zola , Sienkiewicz , and Wilde followed . His translation of Tolstoy's “ Resurrection ” is also known .

In his own novels he satirically criticized social grievances, such as corruption, the sexual excesses of the upper class, etc., which made him a leading writer of the "social novel" ( 社会 小説 , shakai shōsetsu ). In 1901 Uchida began working as a consultant for the bookstore chain Maruzen , which a year later added the Encyclopædia Britannica, which was associated with the Times , to its range. In addition, Uchida published the PR magazine Gakutō for Maruzen. The translation of Tolstoy's "Ivan the Fool and His Brothers" also appeared here in 1908.

His late work Omoidasu hitobito , published in 1925, is also valued as a historical source and contemporary document of the literary world of the Meiji period , from the political novel ( 政治 小説 , seiji shōsetsu ) to the death of Futatabatai Shimei.

In February 1929, Uchida suffered a cerebral haemorrhage while writing, which led to aphasia and his death in June.

Works

  • 1925 Omoidasu hitobito ( 思 ひ 出 す 人 々 )

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ 内 田 魯 庵 . In: デ ジ タ ル 版 日本人 名 大 辞典 + Plus at kotobank.jp. Retrieved May 18, 2013 (Japanese).

Web links
Japanese name: As is common in Japan, the family name comes before the first name in this article . So Uchida is the family name, Roan the first name.
personal data
SURNAME Uchida, Roan
ALTERNATIVE NAMES 内 田 魯 庵 (Japanese); Uchida, Mitsugi (real name); 内 田 貢 (real name, Japanese)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Japanese writer, critic and translator
DATE OF BIRTH April 27, 1868
PLACE OF BIRTH Edo
DATE OF DEATH June 29, 1929