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Osamu Dazai

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The native form of this personal name is Dazai Osamu. This article uses Western name order when mentioning individuals.
For the fictional character of the same name, see Osamu Dazai (Bungo Stray Dogs).
Osamu Dazai
太宰 治
Dazai in 1948
Born
Shūji Tsushima

(1909-06-19)June 19, 1909
Kanagi, Aomori, Empire of Japan
DiedJune 13, 1948(1948-06-13) (aged 38)
Tokyo, Allied-occupied Japan
Cause of deathDouble suicide with Tomie Yamazaki by drowning
Occupation(s)Novelist, short story writer
Notable work
MovementI-Novel, Buraiha
Japanese name
Kanji太宰 治
Hiraganaだざい おさむ
Transcriptions
RomanizationDazai Osamu

Shūji Tsushima (津島 修治, Tsushima Shūji, 19 June 1909 – 13 June 1948), known by his pen name Osamu Dazai (太宰 治, Dazai Osamu), was a Japanese novelist and author.[1] A number of his most popular works, such as The Setting Sun (斜陽, Shayō) and No Longer Human (人間失格, Ningen Shikkaku), are considered modern-day classics.[2]

His influences include Ryūnosuke Akutagawa, Murasaki Shikibu and Fyodor Dostoyevsky. His last book, No Longer Human, is his most popular work outside of Japan.

A pseudonym he used was Shunpei Kuroki (黒木 舜平), on the book Illusion of the Cliffs (断崖の錯覚, Dangai no Sakkaku).

Early life

[edit]
Dazai in a 1924 high school yearbook photo

Shūji Tsushima was born on June 19, 1909, the eighth surviving child of a wealthy landowner[3] and politician[1] in Kanagi, located in the northern tip of Tōhoku in Aomori Prefecture. He was the tenth of eleven children born to his parents. At the time of his birth, the huge, newly-completed Tsushima mansion, where he would spend his early years, was home to some thirty family members.[4] The Tsushima family was of obscure peasant origins, with Dazai's great-grandfather building up the family's wealth as a moneylender, and his son increasing it further. They quickly rose in power and, after some time, became highly respected across the region.[5]

Dazai's father, Gen'emon, was a younger son of the Matsuki family, which due to "its exceedingly 'feudal' tradition" had no use for sons other than the eldest son and heir. As a result, Gen'emon was adopted into the Tsushima family to marry the eldest daughter, Tane. He became involved in politics due to his position as one of the four wealthiest landowners in the prefecture, and was offered membership into the House of Peers.[5] This caused Dazai's father to be absent during much of his early childhood; with his mother, Tane, being ill,[6] Dazai was brought up mostly by the family's servants and his aunt Kiye.[7]

Education and literary beginnings

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In 1916, Dazai began his education at Kanagi Elementary.[8] On March 4, 1923, his father Gen'emon died from lung cancer.[9] A month later, in April, Dazai attended Aomori Junior High School,[10] followed by entering Hirosaki University's literature department in 1927.[8] He developed an interest in Edo culture and began studying gidayū, a form of chanted narration used in bunraku.[11] Around 1928, Dazai edited a series of student publications and contributed some of his own works. He also published a magazine called Saibō bungei (Cell Literature) with his friends, and subsequently became a staff member of the college's newspaper.[12]

Dazai's success in writing was brought to a halt when his idol, the writer Ryūnosuke Akutagawa, committed suicide in 1927 at 35 years old. Dazai started to neglect his studies, and spent the majority of his allowance on clothes, alcohol, and prostitutes. He also dabbled with Marxism, which at the time was heavily suppressed by the government. On the night of December 10, 1929, Dazai made his first suicide attempt, but survived and was able to graduate the following year. In 1930, Dazai enrolled in the French Literature Department of Tokyo Imperial University and promptly stopped studying again. In October, he ran away with a geisha named Hatsuyo Oyama [ja] and was formally disowned by his family.

Nine days after being expelled from Tokyo Imperial University, Dazai attempted suicide by drowning off a beach in Kamakura with another woman, 19-year-old bar hostess Shimeko Tanabe [ja]. Tanabe died, but Dazai lived, was rescued by a fishing boat, and was charged as an accomplice in Tanabe's death. Shocked by the events, Dazai's family intervened to stop a police investigation. His allowance was reinstated, and he was released of any charges. In December, Dazai recovered at Ikarigaseki and married Hatsuyo there.[13]

Leftist movement

[edit]

In 1929, when its principal's misappropriation of public funds was discovered at Hirosaki High School, the students, under the leadership of Ueda Shigehiko (Ishigami Genichiro), leader of the Social Science Study Group, staged a five-day allied strike, which resulted in the principal's resignation and no disciplinary action against the students. Dazai hardly participated in the strike, but in imitation of the proletarian literature in vogue at the time, he summarized the incident in a novel called Student Group and read it to Ueda. The Tsushima family was wary of Dazai's leftist activities. On January 16 of the following year, the Special High Police arrested Ueda and nine other students of the Hiroko Institute of Social Studies, who were working as activists for Seigen Tanaka's armed Communist Party.

In college, Dazai met activist Eizo Kudo, and made a monthly financial contribution of ¥10 to the Japanese Communist Party. The reason he was expelled from his family after his marriage to Hatsuyo Oyama was to prevent the association of illegal activities with Bunji, who was a politician. After his marriage, Dazai was ordered to hide his sympathies and moved repeatedly. In July 1932, Bunji tracked him down, and had him turn himself in at the Aomori Police Station. In December, Dazai signed and sealed a pledge at the Aomori Prosecutor's Office to completely withdraw from leftist activities.[14][15]

Early literary career

[edit]
Dazai in 1928

Dazai kept his promise and settled down a bit. He managed to obtain the assistance of established writer Masuji Ibuse, whose connections helped him get his works published and establish his reputation. The next few years were productive for Dazai. He wrote at a feverish pace and used the pen name "Osamu Dazai" for the first time in a short story called "Ressha" ("列車", "Train") in 1933. This story was his first experiment with the I-novel that later became his trademark.[16]

In 1935 it started to become clear to Dazai that he would not graduate. He failed to obtain a job at a Tokyo newspaper as well. Dazai finished The Final Years (Bannen), which was intended to be his farewell to the world, and tried to hang himself March 19, 1935, failing yet again. Less than three weeks later, Dazai developed acute appendicitis and was hospitalized. In the hospital, he became addicted to Pavinal, a morphine-based painkiller. After fighting the addiction for a year, in October 1936 he was taken to a mental institution,[17] locked in a room and forced to quit cold turkey.

The treatment lasted over a month. During this time Dazai's wife Hatsuyo committed adultery with his best friend Zenshirō Kodate.[citation needed] This eventually came to light, and Dazai attempted to commit shinjū with his wife. They both took sleeping pills, but neither died. Soon after, Dazai divorced Hatsuyo. He quickly remarried, this time to a middle school teacher named Michiko Ishihara (石原美知子). Their first daughter, Sonoko (園子), was born in June 1941.

The year before last I was expelled from my family and, reduced to poverty overnight, was left to wander the streets, begging help for various quarters, barely managing to stay alive from one day to the next, and just when I'd begun to think I might be able to support myself with my writing, I came down with a serious illness. Thanks to the compassion of others, I was able to rent a small house in Funabashi, Chiba, next to the muddy sea, and spent the summer there alone, convalescing. Though battling an illness that each and every night left my robe literally drenched with sweat, I had no choice but to press ahead with my work. The cold half pint of milk I drank each morning was the only thing that gave me a certain peculiar sense of the joy in life; my mental anguish and exhaustion were such that the oleanders blooming in one corner of the garden appeared to me merely flicking tongues of flame...

— Seascape with Figures in Gold (1939), Osamu Dazai, trans. Ralph F. McCarthy (1992)[18]

In the 1930s and 1940s, Dazai wrote a number of subtle novels and short stories that are autobiographical in nature. His first story, Gyofukuki (魚服記, "Transformation", 1933), is a grim fantasy involving suicide. Other stories written during this period include Dōke no hana (道化の花, "Flowers of Buffoonery", 1935), Gyakkō (逆行, "Losing Ground", 1935), Kyōgen no kami (狂言の神, "The God of Farce", 1936), an epistolary novel called Kyokō no Haru (虚構の春, False Spring, 1936) and those published in his 1936 collection Bannen (Declining Years or The Final Years), which describe his sense of personal isolation and his debauchery.

Wartime years

[edit]

Japan widened the Pacific War by attacking the United States in December, but Dazai was excused from the draft because of his chronic chest problems, as he was diagnosed with tuberculosis. The censors became more reluctant to accept Dazai's offbeat work, but he managed to publish quite a bit regardless, remaining one of very few authors who managed to get this kind of material accepted in this period. A number of the stories which Dazai published during the war were retellings of stories by Ihara Saikaku (1642–1693). His wartime works included Udaijin Sanetomo (右大臣実朝, "Minister of the Right Sanetomo", 1943), Tsugaru (1944), Pandora no Hako (パンドラの匣, Pandora's Box, 1945–46), and Otogizōshi (お伽草紙, Fairy Tales, 1945) in which he retold a number of old Japanese fairy tales with "vividness and wit."[This quote needs a citation]

Dazai's house was burned down twice in the American bombing of Tokyo, but his family escaped unscathed and gained a son, Masaki (正樹), who was born in 1944. His third child, daughter Satoko (里子), who later became a famous writer under the pseudonym Yūko Tsushima, was born in May 1947.

Postwar career

[edit]
Dazai in 1947–1948

In the immediate postwar period, Dazai reached the height of his popularity. He depicted a dissolute life in postwar Tokyo in Viyon no Tsuma (ヴィヨンの妻, "Villon's Wife", 1947), depicting the wife of a poet who had abandoned her and her continuing will to live through hardships.

In 1946, Osamu Dazai released a controversial literary piece titled Kuno no Nenkan (Almanac of Pain), a political memoir of Dazai himself. It describes the immediate aftermath of losing the second World War, and encapsulates how Japanese people felt following the country's defeat. Dazai reaffirmed his loyalty to the Japanese Emperor of the time, Emperor Hirohito and his son Akihito. Dazai was a known communist throughout his career, and also expressed his beliefs through this Almanac of Pain.

On December 14, Dazai and a group of writers were joined by Yukio Mishima at a restaurant for dinner.[19] The latter recalled that on that occasion, he gave vent to his dislike of Dazai. According to a later statement by Mishima:[20]

The disgust in which I hold Dazai's literature is in some way ferocious. First, I dislike his face. Second, I dislike his rustic preference for urban sophistication. Third, I dislike the fact that he played the roles that were not appropriate for him.[19]

Other participants at the dinner could not remember if events occurred as Mishima described. They did report that he did not enjoy Dazai's "clowning" and that they had a dispute about Ōgai Mori, a writer Mishima admired.[21]

Tomie Yamazaki, Dazai's last lover

Alongside this Dazai also wrote Jugonenkan (For Fifteen Years), another autobiographical piece. This, alongside Almanac of Pain, may serve as a prelude to a consideration of Dazai's postwar fiction.[22]

In July 1947, Dazai's best-known work, Shayo (The Setting Sun, translated 1956) depicting the decline of the Japanese nobility after the war, was published, propelling the already popular writer into celebrityhood. This work was based on the diary of Shizuko Ōta (太田静子), an admirer of Dazai's works who first met him in 1941. The pair had a daughter, Haruko, (治子) in 1947.

A heavy drinker, Dazai became an alcoholic[23] and his health deteriorated rapidly. At this time he met Tomie Yamazaki (山崎富栄), a beautician and war widow who had lost her husband after just ten days of marriage. Dazai effectively abandoned his wife and children and moved in with Tomie.

Dazai began writing his novel No Longer Human (人間失格 Ningen Shikkaku, 1948) at the hot-spring resort Atami. He moved to Ōmiya with Tomie and stayed there until mid-May, finishing his novel. A quasi-autobiography, it depicts a young, self-destructive man seeing himself as disqualified from the human race.[24] The book is considered one of the classics of Japanese literature, and has been translated into several foreign languages.

In the spring of 1948, Dazai worked on a novella scheduled to be serialized in the Asahi Shimbun, titled Goodbye, but it was never finished.

Death

[edit]
Dazai and Tomie's bodies discovered in 1948

On June 13, 1948, Dazai and Tomie drowned themselves in the rain-swollen Tamagawa Canal, near his house. Their bodies were not discovered until six days later, on June 19, which would have been his 39th birthday. His grave is at the temple of Zenrin-ji, in Mitaka, Tokyo.

At the time, there was a lot of speculation about the incident, with theories of forced suicide by Tomie. Keikichi Nakahata, a kimono merchant who frequented the young Tsushima family, was shown the scene of the water ingress by a detective from the Mitaka police station. He speculated that "Dazai was asked to die, and he simply agreed, but just before his death, he suddenly felt an obsession with life".[25]

Works

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Works
Japanese title [Romaji] English title Publishing year Translator
ア、秋 [A, Aki] A. Autumn 1939
愛と美について [Ai to bi ni tsuite] About Love and Beauty 1939
老ハイデルベルヒ [Alt-Heidelberg] Alt-Heidelberg 1940
雨の玉川心中 [Ame no Tamagawa shinjū] Rain at Tamagawa - Double Suicide
兄たち [Anitachi] My Older Brothers 1940 McCarthy; O'Brien
青森 [Aomori] Aomori 1941
或る忠告 [Aru chūkoku] Advice 1942
朝 [Asa] Morning 1947 Brudnoy & Yumi
あさましきもの [Asamashiki mono] Something Regrettable 1937
新しい形の個人主義 [Atarashii katachi no kojin shugi] A New Form of Individualism 1980
「晩年」と「女生徒」 ["Bannen" to "Joseito"] "The Last Years" and "Schoolgirl" 1948
「晩年」に就いて ["Bannen" ni tsuite] About „The Final Years“ 1936
美男子と煙草 [Bidanshi to tabako] Handsome Devils and Cigarettes 1948 McCarthy
美少女 [Bishōjo] A Little Beauty 1939 McCarthy
眉山 [Bizan] Bizan 1948
チャンス [Chansu] Chance 1946
父 [Chichi] The Father 1947 Brudnoy & Yumi
小さいアルバム [Chiisai arubamu] The Little Album 1942
畜犬談 —伊馬鵜平君に与える— [Chikukendan - Ima Uhei-kun ni ataeru -] Canis familiaris 1939 McCarthy
竹青 [Chikusei] Blue Bamboo 1945
地球図 [Chikyūzu] Chikyūzu (or World’s Map) 1935
千代女 [Chiyojo] Chiyojo 1941 Dunlop
地図 [Chizu] The Map 1925
大恩は語らず [Daion wa katarazu] A great favour is not expressed 1954
断崖の錯覚 [Dangai no sakkaku] Illusion of the cliffs 1934
檀君の近業について [Dan-kun no kingyō ni tsuite] About the latest works by Dan-kun 1937
男女同権 [Danjo dōken] Gender Equality 1946
誰 [Dare] Who 1941
誰も知らぬ [Dare mo shiranu] Nobody Knows 1940
ダス・ゲマイネ [Dasu Gemaine] Das Gemeine 1935 O'Brien
デカダン抗議 [Dekadan kōgi] Decadent protest 1939
貪婪禍 [Donranka] The scourge of greed 1940
道化の華 [Dōke no hana] The Flowers of Buffoonery 1935
炎天汗談 [Enten kandan] Bottomless Hell 1942
フォスフォレッスセンス [Fosuforessensu] The Pitiable Mosquitoes 1947
富嶽百景 [Fugaku hyakkei] One Hundred Views of Mount Fuji 1939 McCarthy
富士に就いて [Fuji ni tsuite] About Mount Fuji 1938
服装に就いて [Fukusō ni tsuite] About Clothing 1941 O'Brien
不審庵 [Fushin'an] Doubtful Retreat 1943
冬の花火 [Fuyu no hanabi] Winter Fireworks 1946
玩具 [Gangu] Toys 1935 O'Brien
芸術ぎらい [Geijutsu girai] Dislike of Art 1944
義務 [Gimu] Duty 1940
五所川原 [Goshogawara] Goshogawara 1941
グッド・バイ [Guddo Bai] Goodbye 1948 Marshall
逆行 [Gyakkō] Losing Ground 1935
魚服記 [Gyofukuki] Metamorphosis 1933 O'Brien
魚服記に就て [Gyofukuki ni tsuite] About the Story of Fish and Clothing 1933
葉 [Ha] Leaves 1934 Gangloff
母 [Haha] Mother 1947 Brudnoy & Yumi
八十八夜 [Hachijūhachiya] The 88th Day 1939
恥 [Haji] Shame 1942 Dunlop
薄明 [Hakumei] Early Light 1946 McCarthy
花火 [Hanabi] Fireworks 1929
花吹雪 [Hanafubuki] Falling Blossoms 1944
犯人 [Hannin] The Criminal 1948
春 [Haru] Spring 1980
春の枯葉 [Haru no kareha] Dry Leaves in Spring 1946
春の盗賊 [Haru no tōzoku] A Burglar in Spring 1940
春夫と旅行できなかつた話 [Haruo to ryokō dekinakatsuta hanashi] The Story of How I Couldn't Travel with Haruo
走ラヌ名馬 [Hashiranu meiba] The Unrunning Thoroughbred 1980
走れメロス [Hashire Merosu] Run, Melos! 1940 McCarthy; O'Brien
葉桜と魔笛 [Hazakura to mateki] Cherry Blossoms and the Magic Flute 1939
碧眼托鉢 [Hekigan takuhatsu] The Blue-eyed Pilgrim 1936
返事 [Henji] Reply 1980
皮膚と心 [Hifu to kokoro] Skin and Heart 1939
火の鳥 [Hi no tori] The Phoenix 1939
一つの約束 [Hitotsu no yakusoku] One Promise 1944
一問一答 [Ichimon ittō] Questions and Answers 1942
陰火 [Inka] Inka (Will-o'-the-Wisp) 1936
田舎者 [Inakamono] The Country Bumpkin 1980
一歩前進二歩退却 [Ippo zenshin nippo taikyaku] One Step Forward, Two Steps Back 1938
弱者の糧 [Jakusha no kate] Food for the Weak 1980
人物に就いて [Jinbutsu ni tsuite] About Characters 1936
自作を語る [Jisaku wo kataru] Talking About My Work 1980
自信の無さ [Jishin no nasa] Lack of Confidence 1940
女類 [Jorui] Women 1948
女生徒 [Joseito] Schoolgirl 1939 Powell
十五年間 [Jūgonenkan] For Fifteen Years 1946
十二月八日 [Jūnigatsu yōka] December 8th 1942
純真 [Junshin] Innocence 1980
貨幣 [Kahei] Currency 1946 O'Brien
佳日 [Kajitsu] Happy Day 1944
駈込み訴え [Kakekomi uttae] Heed My Plea 1940 O'Brien
かくめい [Kakumei] Revolution 1948
鴎 [Kamome] Seagull 1940
【関連作品】([Kanren sakuhin]) Related Works
彼は昔の彼ならず [Kare wa mukashi no kare narazu] He Is Not the Man He Used to Be 1934
花燭 [Kashoku] Wedding Torches 1939
かすかな声 [Kasukana koe] A Faint Voice 1940
家庭の幸福 [Katei no kōfuku] Domestic Happiness 1939
川端康成へ [Kawabata Yasunari e] To Yasunari Kawabata 1935
革財布 [kawa saifu] Leather Wallet
風の便り [Kaze no tayori] News on the Wind 1941
喝采 [Kessai] Applause 1936
帰去来 [Kikyorai] Going Home 1943 Lyons
金錢の話 [Kinsen no hanashi] A Story About Money 1943
禁酒の心 [Kinshu no kokoro] The Heart of a Teetotaler 1943
きりぎりす [Kirigirisu] Cricket 1940
校長三代 [Kōchō sandai] Three Generations of Principals 1939
乞食学生 [kojiki gakusei] The Begging Student 1940
心の王者 [Kokoro no ōja] The King of the Heart 1940
故郷 [Kokyō] Homecoming 1943 O'Brien
このごろ [Kono goro] Lately 1940
困惑の弁 [Konwaku no ben] A Plea of Confusion
古典風 [Kotenfū] In Classical Style 1940
古典竜頭蛇尾 [Koten ryūtō dabi] Classical Dragon Head and Snake Tail 1936
九月十月十一月 [Kugatsu jūgatsu jūichigatsu] September, October, November 1938
國技館 (くにわざかん) [Kuni-waza-kann] National Sumo Arena 1940
苦悩の年鑑 [Kunō no nenkan] Almanac of Pain 1946 Lyons
黒石の人たち [Kuroishi no hitotachi] The People of Kuroishi
狂言の神 [Kyōgen no kami] The God of Farce 1936
虚構の春 [Kyokō no haru] False Spring 1936
饗応夫人 [Kyōō fujin] The Hospitable Lady 1948
郷愁 [Kyōshū] Nostalgia
満願 [Mangan] Complete Satisfaction 1938 Brudnoy & Kazuko; McCarthy
待つ [Matsu] Waiting 1942 Brudnoy & Kazuko; Turvill
女神 [Megami] The Goddess 1947
めくら草紙 [Mekura zōshi] The Blind Scroll 1936
メリイクリスマス [Merii Kurisumasu] Merry Christmas 1947 McCarthy
雌に就いて [Mesu ni tsuite] Female 1947 McCarthy
未帰還の友に [Mikikan no tomo ni] To an Unreturned Friend 1944
みみずく通信 [Mimizuku tsūshin] The Owl Newspaper 1941
男女川と羽左衛門 [Minanogawa to Uzaemon] The River and Uzaemon 1935
盲人独笑 [Mōjin Dokushō] The Blind Man's Laughter
文盲自嘲 [Monmō jichō] The Illiterate's Laughter
悶悶日記 [Monmon nikki] Tormented Diary
もの思う葦 [Monoomouashi] A Thinking Reed
無題 [Mudai] Untitled
無趣味 [Mushumi] Lack of Interest
二十世紀旗手 [Nijūseiki kishu] A Standard-bearer of the Twentieth Century 1937
「人間キリスト記」その他 ["Ningen kirisuto ki" sonota] "Reports on Christ" and Others 1940
人間失格 [Ningen Shikkaku] No Longer Human 1948 Gibeau; Keene
庭 [Niwa] The Garden 1946 McCarthy
如是我聞 [Nyoze Gamon] Thus Have I Heard 1948
女人訓戒 [Nyonin kunkai] Advice for Women
女人創造 [Nyonin sōzō] Woman's Creation
織田君の死 [Oda kun no shi] The Death of Oda-kun
緒方氏を殺した者 [Ogata shi wo koroshita mono] The Murderer of Mr. Ogata 1937
黄金風景 [Ōgon fūkei] Golden Landscape 1941 Dunlop; McCarthy
思ひ出 [Omohide] Memories 1933 Dunlop; Lyons; O'Brien
同じ星 [Onaji hoshi] The Same Star
女の決闘 [Onna no ketto] Women's Duel 1940
おさん [Osan] Osan 1947 O'Brien
おしゃれ童子 [Oshare doji] The Stylish Child 1939
黄村先生言行録 [Ōson sensei genkōroku] Mr. Oson's Records 1943
桜桃 [Ōtō] Cherries 1948 McCarthy
お伽草紙 [Otogizōshi] Fairy Tales 1945
音に就いて [oto ni tsuite] About Sound 1942
親という二字 [Oya to iu niji] The Word "Parents"
パウロの混乱 [Pauro no konran] Paul's Confusion
パンドラの匣 [Pandora no hako] Pandora's Box 1945
懶惰の歌留多 [Randanokaruta] The Lazy Game of Cards 1939
ラロシフコー [Raroshifukō] La Rochefoucauld 1935
令嬢アユ [Reijō Ayu] Miss Ayu 1934
列車 [Ressha] The Train 1933 McCarthy
リイズ [Riizu] Liz 1940
六月十九日 [Rokugatsu jūkunichi] June 19th 1946
ロマネスク [Romanesuku] Romance 1934
ろまん燈籠 [Romantōrō] The Romantic Lantern 1947
律子と貞子 [Ritsuko to Sadako] Ritsuko and Sadako 1942
佐渡 [Sado] Sado 1941
砂子屋 [Sagoya] The Sandman 1941
最後の太閤 [saigo no taikō] The Last Taikō 1945
酒ぎらい [sake girai] The Teetotaler 1935
酒の追憶 [sake no tsuioku] Memories of Alcohol 1940
作家の手帖 [Sakka no techō] The Writer's Notebook 1946
作家の像 [sakka no zō] The Writer's Portrait 1943
三月三十日 [sangatsu san jū nichi] March 30th 1943
散華 [Sange] Fallen Flowers 1945 Swann
猿ヶ島 [Sarugashima] The Monkey Island 1935 O'Brien
猿面冠者 [Sarumen kanja] The Monkey-faced Man 1942
正義と微笑 [Seigi to bisho] Righteousness and Smiles 1942
清貧譚 [seihin tan] The Story of Poverty 1936
政治家と家庭 [Seijika to katei] The Politician and the Family 1943
世界的 [Sekai-teki] Worldly 1935
惜別 [Sekibetsu] Regretful Parting 1945
赤心 [sekishin] Sincerity 1941
先生三人 [Sensei sannin] Three Teachers 1939
斜陽 [Shayō] The Setting Sun 1947 Keene
思案の敗北 [shian no haiboku] The Defeat of Deliberation 1936
新ハムレット [Shinhamuretto] New Hamlet 1941
新樹の言葉 [Shinjunokotoba] Words of the New Trees 1943
新郎 [Shinro] The Groom 1943
新釈諸国噺 [Shinshakushokokubanashi] New Interpretation of Country Stories 1945
親友交歓 [Shin'yūkōkan] The Courtesy Call 1943
失敗園 [Shippaien] The Garden of Failure 1942
知らない人 [Shiranai hito] Unknown Person 1943
【シリーズ好評既刊】([Shirīzu kōhyō kikan]) Successful Series 1941
私信 [Shishin] Private Letter 1940
市井喧争 [Shisei kenso] People's Disputes 1942
正直ノオト [Shōjiki nōto] Honest Notes 1938
諸君の位置 [Shokun no ichi] Your Positions 1940
食通 [Shokutsu] Gourmet 1942
小志 [Shōshi] Small Ambitions 1939
小照 [Shōshō] Little Light 1942
小説の面白さ [Shōsetsunoomoshirosa] The Fun of the Novel 1940
秋風記 [Shūfūki] Autumn Wind Story 1942
春昼 [Shunchū] Spring Day 1940
創作余談 [sōsaku yodan] Creation Side Notes 1936
創生記 [sōseiki] Creation Story 1946
水仙 [Suisen] Daffodils 1942
雀 [Suzume] Sparrows 1946
雀こ [Suzume ko] Little Sparrow 1946
多頭蛇哲学 [Ta atama hebi tetsugaku] Philosophy of the Multi-headed Snake 1934
田中君に就いて [Tanaka-kun ni tsuite] About Mr. Tanaka 1937
たずねびと [Tazune bito] Seeker 1946
天狗 [Tengu] Tengu 1943
鉄面皮 [Tetsumenpi] Thick-skinned 1936
答案落第 [tōan rakudai] Examination Failure 1937
トカトントン [Tokatonton] The Sound of Hammering 1947 O'Brien
東京だより [Tōkyōda yori] News from Tokyo 1941
東京八景 [Tōkyō Hakkei] Eight Views of Tokyo 1941 Lyons; McCarthy; O'Brien
燈籠 [Tōrō] Lantern 1937
當選の日 [Tōsen no hi] Election Day 1935
徒党について [Totōnitsuite] About Factions 1944
津軽 [Tsugaru] Tsugaru 1944 Marshall; Westerhoven
津輕地方とチエホフ [Tsugaru chihō to chiehofu] Tsugaru Region and Chekhov 1938
姥捨 [Ubasute] Putting Granny Out to Die 1938 O'Brien
右大臣実朝 [Udaijinsanetomo] Sanetomo, Minister of the Right 1943
鬱屈禍 [ukkutsuka] The Hidden Curse 1940
海 [Umi] The Sea 1941
嘘 [Uso] Lie 1941
やんぬる哉 [Yan'nurukana] Unbearable 1937
ヴィヨンの妻 [Viyon no tsuma] Villon's Wife 1947 McCarthy
容貌 [Yobo] Appearance 1936
横綱 [Yokozuna] Grand Champion 1940
雪の夜の話 [Yuki no yo no hanashi] Story of a Snowy Night 1936 Swann
わが愛好する言葉 [Waga aikō suru kotoba] Words I Love 1936
わが半生を語る [Wagahanseiwokataru] My Half-Life 1937
渡り鳥 [Wataridori] Migratory Birds 1936
私の著作集 [Watashinochosakushū] My Collected Works 1944
座興に非ず [zakyō ni hizu] Not Just for Fun 1936
俗天使 [Zoku tenshi] The Common Angel 1947
善蔵を思う [Zenzō wo omou] Thinking of Zenzō 1946

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b "Dazai Osamu | Japanese author | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 2022-12-07.
  2. ^ "Many of Japan's most interesting creative writers cite 'No Longer Human' by Osamu Dazai as their favourite book or one that had a huge influence on them". Red Circle Authors. 4 January 2018. Retrieved 12 May 2021.
  3. ^ Lyons, Phyllis I. (1985). The saga of Dazai Osamu: a critical study with translations. Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press. pp. 8, 21. ISBN 0804711976. OCLC 11210872.
  4. ^ O'Brien, James A. (1975). Dazai Osamu. Boston: Twayne Publishers. p. 18. ISBN 0805726640.
  5. ^ a b Lyons 1985, pp. 21–22.
  6. ^ O'Brien 1975.
  7. ^ Lyons 1985, pp. 21, 53, 57–58.
  8. ^ a b O'Brien 1975, p. 12.
  9. ^ 野原, 一夫 (1998). 太宰治生涯と文学 (in Japanese). 筑摩書房. p. 36. ISBN 4480033971. OCLC 676259180.
  10. ^ Lyons 1985, p. 389.
  11. ^ Lyons 1985, p. 26.
  12. ^ Lyons 1985, pp. 28–29.
  13. ^ Thacker, Eugene (2016-03-26). "Black Illumination: the disqualified life of Osamu Dazai". The Japan Times. Retrieved 2024-08-08.
  14. ^ Inose, Naoki; 猪瀬直樹 (2001). Pikaresuku : Dazai Osamu den = Picaresque. 猪瀬直樹 (Shohan ed.). Tōkyō: Shōgakkan. ISBN 4-09-394166-1. OCLC 47158889.
  15. ^ Nohara, Kazuo; 野原一夫 (1998). Dazai Osamu, shōgai to bungaku. Tōkyō: Chikuma Shobō. ISBN 4-480-03397-1. OCLC 41370809.
  16. ^ Lyons 1985, p. 34.
  17. ^ Lyons 1985, p. 39.
  18. ^ 太宰治 (1992). Self Portraits. Kodansha International. ISBN 978-4-7700-1689-8.
  19. ^ a b Sato & Inose 2012, p. 163.
  20. ^ Sato & Inose 2012, p. 162.
  21. ^ Sato & Inose 2012, pp. 163–164.
  22. ^ Wolfe, Alan Stephen (2014-07-14). Suicidal Narrative in Modern Japan: The Case of Dazai Osamu. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-1-4008-6100-2.
  23. ^ Sakanishi, Shio. "Publishing Trend." Japan Quarterly 2.3 (1955): 384. "Dazai, a Bohemian and an alcoholic"
  24. ^ "The Disqualified Life of Osamu Dazai" by Eugene Thacker, Japan Times, 26 Mar. 2016.
  25. ^ 山内祥史 (1998). 太宰治に出会った日 : 珠玉のエッセイ集. Yumani Shobō. OCLC 680437760.

Sources

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  • O'Brien, James A., ed. Akutagawa and Dazai: Instances of Literary Adaptation. Cornell University Press, 1983.
  • Ueda, Makoto. Modern Japanese Writers and the Nature of Literature. Stanford University Press, 1976.
  • Sato, Hiroaki; Inose, Naoki (2012). Persona: A Biography of Yukio Mishima. Berkeley, California: Stone Bridge Press. ISBN 978-1-61172-008-2.
  • "Nation and Region in the Work of Dazai Osamu," in Roy Starrs Japanese Cultural Nationalism: At Home and in the Asia Pacific. London: Global Oriental. 2004. ISBN 1-901903-11-7.
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