Eiji Yoshikawa
Encyclopedia
was a Japanese historical novel
ist, probably one of the best and most famous authors in the genre. Among his most well-known novels, most are revisions of past works. He was mainly influenced by classics such as The Tale of the Heike
, Tale of Genji, Outlaws of the Marsh, and Romance of the Three Kingdoms
, many of which he retold later in his life. For instance, the original manuscript of Taiko is about 15 volumes, so Yoshikawa took up the job to retell it in close and accessible language. His other books also serve similar purposes and, although most of his novels aren't original, he created a huge amount of work and renewed interest in the past. He was awarded the Cultural Order of Merit
in 1960 (the highest award for a man of letters), the Order of the Sacred Treasure
and the Mainichi Art Award just before his death of cancer in 1962. He is cited as one of the best historical novelists in Japan.
, in what is now a part of Yokohama
. Because of his father's failed business, he had to drop out of primary school to work when he was 11 years old. When he was 18, after a near-fatal accident working at the Yokohama docks, he moved to Tokyo
and became an apprentice in a gold lacquer
workshop. Around this time he became interested in comic haiku
. He joined a poetry society and started writing comic haiku under the pseudonym "Kijiro."
In 1914, with The Tale of Enoshima
, he won first prize in a novel-writing contest sponsored by the publisher Kodansha
. He joined the newspaper Maiyu Shimbun in 1921, and in the following year he began publishing serializations, starting with Life of Shinran
.
He married Yasu Akazawa in 1923, the year of the Great Kantō earthquake. His experiences in the earthquake strengthened his resolve to make writing his career. In the following years he published stories in various periodicals published by Kodansha, who recognized him as their number one author. He used 19 pen names before settling on Eiji Yoshikawa. He first used this pen name with the serialization of Sword Trouble, Woman Trouble. His name became a household word after Secret Record of Naruto was serialized in the Osaka
Mainichi Shimbun
. From then on the public's appetite for his brand of adventure writing was insatiable.
In the early 1930s, his writing became introspective, reflecting growing troubles in his personal life. But in 1935, with the serialization of Musashi
, about famed swordsman Miyamoto Musashi
, in the Asahi Shimbun
, his writing settled firmly into the genre of historical adventure fiction.
Upon the outbreak of war with China
in 1937 the Asahi Shimbun sent him into the field as a special correspondent. At this time he divorced Yasu Akazawa and married Fumiko Ikedo. During the war he continued writing novels, and became more influenced by Chinese culture. Among the works of this period are Taiko
and his re-telling of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms
.
At the end of the war he stopped writing and settled down to a quiet retirement in Yoshino (present-day Oumeshi) on the outskirts of Tokyo, but he soon started writing again in 1947. His post-war works include New Tale of the Heike
, published in the Asahi Weekly (1950), and A Private Record of the Pacific War
(1958).
Historical novel
According to Encyclopædia Britannica, a historical novel is-Development:An early example of historical prose fiction is Luó Guànzhōng's 14th century Romance of the Three Kingdoms, which covers one of the most important periods of Chinese history and left a lasting impact on Chinese culture.The...
ist, probably one of the best and most famous authors in the genre. Among his most well-known novels, most are revisions of past works. He was mainly influenced by classics such as The Tale of the Heike
The Tale of the Heike
is an epic account of the struggle between the Taira and Minamoto clans for control of Japan at the end of the 12th century in the Genpei War...
, Tale of Genji, Outlaws of the Marsh, and Romance of the Three Kingdoms
Romance of the Three Kingdoms
Romance of the Three Kingdoms, written by Luo Guanzhong in the 14th century, is a Chinese historical novel based on the events in the turbulent years near the end of the Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms era of Chinese history, starting in 169 and ending with the reunification of the land in...
, many of which he retold later in his life. For instance, the original manuscript of Taiko is about 15 volumes, so Yoshikawa took up the job to retell it in close and accessible language. His other books also serve similar purposes and, although most of his novels aren't original, he created a huge amount of work and renewed interest in the past. He was awarded the Cultural Order of Merit
Order of Culture
The is a Japanese order, established on February 11, 1937. The order has one class only, and may be awarded to men and women for contributions to Japan's art, literature or culture; recipients of the order also receive an annuity for life...
in 1960 (the highest award for a man of letters), the Order of the Sacred Treasure
Order of the Sacred Treasure
The is a Japanese Order, established on January 4, 1888 by Emperor Meiji of Japan as the Order of Meiji. It is awarded in eight classes . It is generally awarded for long and/or meritorious service and considered to be the lowest of the Japanese orders of merit...
and the Mainichi Art Award just before his death of cancer in 1962. He is cited as one of the best historical novelists in Japan.
Life
He was born in Kanagawa PrefectureKanagawa Prefecture
is a prefecture located in the southern Kantō region of Japan. The capital is Yokohama. Kanagawa is part of the Greater Tokyo Area.-History:The prefecture has some archaeological sites going back to the Jōmon period...
, in what is now a part of Yokohama
Yokohama
is the capital city of Kanagawa Prefecture and the second largest city in Japan by population after Tokyo and most populous municipality of Japan. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of Tokyo, in the Kantō region of the main island of Honshu...
. Because of his father's failed business, he had to drop out of primary school to work when he was 11 years old. When he was 18, after a near-fatal accident working at the Yokohama docks, he moved to Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
and became an apprentice in a gold lacquer
Lacquer
In a general sense, lacquer is a somewhat imprecise term for a clear or coloured varnish that dries by solvent evaporation and often a curing process as well that produces a hard, durable finish, in any sheen level from ultra matte to high gloss and that can be further polished as required...
workshop. Around this time he became interested in comic haiku
Haiku
' , plural haiku, is a very short form of Japanese poetry typically characterised by three qualities:* The essence of haiku is "cutting"...
. He joined a poetry society and started writing comic haiku under the pseudonym "Kijiro."
In 1914, with The Tale of Enoshima
Enoshima
is a small island, about 4 km in circumference, at the mouth of the Katase River, which flows into Sagami Bay in Japan. Part of the city of Fujisawa, it is linked to the Katase section of the same city on the mainland by a 600 meter-long bridge...
, he won first prize in a novel-writing contest sponsored by the publisher Kodansha
Kodansha
, the largest Japanese publisher, produces the manga magazines Nakayoshi, Afternoon, Evening, and Weekly Shonen Magazine, as well as more literary magazines such as Gunzō, Shūkan Gendai, and the Japanese dictionary Nihongo Daijiten. The company has its headquarters in Bunkyō, Tokyo...
. He joined the newspaper Maiyu Shimbun in 1921, and in the following year he began publishing serializations, starting with Life of Shinran
Shinran
was a Japanese Buddhist monk, who was born in Hino at the turbulent close of the Heian Period and lived during the Kamakura Period...
.
He married Yasu Akazawa in 1923, the year of the Great Kantō earthquake. His experiences in the earthquake strengthened his resolve to make writing his career. In the following years he published stories in various periodicals published by Kodansha, who recognized him as their number one author. He used 19 pen names before settling on Eiji Yoshikawa. He first used this pen name with the serialization of Sword Trouble, Woman Trouble. His name became a household word after Secret Record of Naruto was serialized in the Osaka
Osaka
is a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshu, a designated city under the Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the biggest part of Keihanshin area, which is represented by three major cities of Japan, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe...
Mainichi Shimbun
Mainichi Shimbun
The is one of the major newspapers in Japan, published by .-History:The history of the Mainichi Shimbun begins with founding of two papers during the Meiji period. The Tokyo Nichi Nichi Shimbun was founded first, in 1872. The Mainichi claims that it is the oldest existing Japanese daily newspaper...
. From then on the public's appetite for his brand of adventure writing was insatiable.
In the early 1930s, his writing became introspective, reflecting growing troubles in his personal life. But in 1935, with the serialization of Musashi
Musashi (novel)
is a Japanese novel written by Eiji Yoshikawa and serialized in 1935 in Asahi Shimbun.-Introduction:It is a fictionalized account of the life of Miyamoto Musashi, author of The Book of Five Rings and arguably the most renowned Japanese swordsman who ever lived.The novel has been translated into...
, about famed swordsman Miyamoto Musashi
Miyamoto Musashi
, also known as Shinmen Takezō, Miyamoto Bennosuke or, by his Buddhist name, Niten Dōraku, was a Japanese swordsman and rōnin. Musashi, as he was often simply known, became renowned through stories of his excellent swordsmanship in numerous duels, even from a very young age...
, in the Asahi Shimbun
Asahi Shimbun
The is the second most circulated out of the five national newspapers in Japan. Its circulation, which was 7.96 million for its morning edition and 3.1 million for its evening edition as of June 2010, was second behind that of Yomiuri Shimbun...
, his writing settled firmly into the genre of historical adventure fiction.
Upon the outbreak of war with China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
in 1937 the Asahi Shimbun sent him into the field as a special correspondent. At this time he divorced Yasu Akazawa and married Fumiko Ikedo. During the war he continued writing novels, and became more influenced by Chinese culture. Among the works of this period are Taiko
Toyotomi Hideyoshi
was a daimyo warrior, general and politician of the Sengoku period. He unified the political factions of Japan. He succeeded his former liege lord, Oda Nobunaga, and brought an end to the Sengoku period. The period of his rule is often called the Momoyama period, named after Hideyoshi's castle...
and his re-telling of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms
Romance of the Three Kingdoms
Romance of the Three Kingdoms, written by Luo Guanzhong in the 14th century, is a Chinese historical novel based on the events in the turbulent years near the end of the Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms era of Chinese history, starting in 169 and ending with the reunification of the land in...
.
At the end of the war he stopped writing and settled down to a quiet retirement in Yoshino (present-day Oumeshi) on the outskirts of Tokyo, but he soon started writing again in 1947. His post-war works include New Tale of the Heike
The Tale of the Heike
is an epic account of the struggle between the Taira and Minamoto clans for control of Japan at the end of the 12th century in the Genpei War...
, published in the Asahi Weekly (1950), and A Private Record of the Pacific War
Pacific War
The Pacific War, also sometimes called the Asia-Pacific War refers broadly to the parts of World War II that took place in the Pacific Ocean, its islands, and in East Asia, then called the Far East...
(1958).
English translations
Four of his books have been translated into English. They are:- Miyamoto MusashiMusashi (novel)is a Japanese novel written by Eiji Yoshikawa and serialized in 1935 in Asahi Shimbun.-Introduction:It is a fictionalized account of the life of Miyamoto Musashi, author of The Book of Five Rings and arguably the most renowned Japanese swordsman who ever lived.The novel has been translated into...
translated as Musashi -- translated by Charles S. Terry:- _________. (1981). Musashi. New York: HarperCollinsHarperCollinsHarperCollins is a publishing company owned by News Corporation. It is the combination of the publishers William Collins, Sons and Co Ltd, a British company, and Harper & Row, an American company, itself the result of an earlier merger of Harper & Brothers and Row, Peterson & Company. The worldwide...
. 10-ISBN 0-0685-9851-3; 13-ISBN 978-0-0685-9851-0 (cloth) - _________. (1989). Musashi Book I: The Way of the Samurai. New York: Pocket BooksPocket BooksPocket Books is a division of Simon & Schuster that primarily publishes paperback books.- History :Pocket produced the first mass-market, pocket-sized paperback books in America in early 1939 and revolutionized the publishing industry...
. ISBN 0-671-73483-0 (paper) - _________. (1989). Musashi Book II: The Art of War. New York: Pocket Books. (paper)
- _________. (1989). Musashi Book III: The Way of the Sword. New York: Pocket Books. ISBN 0-671-67721-7 (paper)
- _________. (1989). Musashi Book IV: The Bushido Code. New York: Pocket Books. ISBN 0-671-72991-8 (paper)
- _________. (1989). Musashi Book V: The Way of Life and Death. New York: Pocket Books. ISBN 0-671-67723-3 (paper)
- _________. (1995). Musashi. Tokyo: Kodansha International. 10-ISBN 4-7700-1957-2; 13-ISBN 978-4-7700-1957-8 (cloth)
- _________. (1981). Musashi. New York: HarperCollins
- Taiko ki translated as Taiko: An Epic Novel of War and Glory in Feudal Japan -- translated by William Scott WilsonWilliam Scott WilsonWilliam Scott Wilson is known for translating several works of Japanese literature, mostly those relating to the martial tradition of that country. He is recognized by as "today’s foremost translator of classic Samurai texts." Mr. Wilson is also described as the world's foremost expert on the...
:- _________. (1992). Taiko: An Epic Novel of War and Glory in Feudal Japan. Tokyo: Kodansha International. 10-ISBN 4-7700-1570-4; 13-ISBN 978-4-7700-1570-9 (cloth)
- _________. (2000). Taiko: An Epic Novel of War and Glory in Feudal Japan. Tokyo: Kodansha International. 10-ISBN 4-7700-2609-9; 13-ISBN 978-4-7700-2609-5 (cloth)
- Shin Heike monogatari translated as The Heike Story: A Modern Translation of the Classic Tale of Love and War -- translated by Fuki Wooyenaka Uramatsu:
- _________. (1956). The Heike Story: A Modern Translation of the Classic Tale of Love and War. New York: Alfred A. KnopfAlfred A. KnopfAlfred A. Knopf, Inc. is a New York publishing house, founded by Alfred A. Knopf, Sr. in 1915. It was acquired by Random House in 1960 and is now part of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group at Random House. The publishing house is known for its borzoi trademark , which was designed by co-founder...
. ASIN B0007BR0W8 (cloth) - _________. (1981). The Heike Story: A Modern Translation of the Classic Tale of Love and War. Tokyo: Tuttle PublishingTuttle PublishingTuttle Publishing, originally the Charles E. Tuttle Company, is a book publishing company that includes Tuttle, Periplus Editions, and Journey Editions...
. 10-ISBN 0-8048-1376-0; 13-ISBN 978-0-8048-1376-1 (paper) - _________. (2002). The Heike Story: A Modern Translation of the Classic Tale of Love and War. Tokyo: Tuttle Publishing. 10-ISBN 0-8048-3318-4; 13-ISBN 978-0-8048-3318-9 (paper)
- _________. (1956). The Heike Story: A Modern Translation of the Classic Tale of Love and War. New York: Alfred A. Knopf
- Wasurenokori no ki translated as Fragments of a Past: A Memoir -- translated by Edwin McClellanEdwin McClellanEdwin McClellan was a British Japanologist. He was an academic—a scholar, teacher, writer, translator and interpreter of Japanese literature and culture.-Biography:...
:- _________. (1993). Fragments of a Past: A Memoir. Tokyo: Kodansha International. 10-ISBN 4-7700-1732-4; 13-ISBN 978-4-7700-1732-1 (cloth) 10-ISBN 4-7700-2064-3; 13-ISBN 978-4-7700-2064-2 (paper)
Works in Print in Japanese
The Japanese publisher Kodansha currently publishes an 80-volume series: Yoshikawa Eiji Rekishi Jidai Bunko, or Eiji Yoshikawa's Historical Fiction in Paperback. Kodansha numbers the series from 1 to 80.- 1 - (Kennan Jonan) - Sword Trouble, Woman Trouble
- 2 - 4 (in three volumes) - (Naruto Hitcho) - Secret Record of Naruto
- 5 - 7 (in three volumes) - (Edo Sangoku-shi) - The Three Kingdoms of EdoEdo, also romanized as Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of the Japanese capital Tokyo, and was the seat of power for the Tokugawa shogunate which ruled Japan from 1603 to 1868...
- 8 - (Kankan Mushi wa Utau) - "Kan-kan the insect sings" and other stories
- 9 - (Rougoku no Hanayome) - The Jail Bride
- 10 - (Matsu no Rohachi) - Rohachi of the Pines
- 11 - 13 (in three volumes) - (Shinran)
- 14 - 21 (in eight volumes) - (Miyamoto Musashi)
- 22 - 32 (in eleven volumes) - (Shinsho Taiko ki) - Paperback Life of the Taiko
- 33 - 40 (in eight volumes) - (Sangoku shi) - Romance of the Three Kingdoms
- 41 - 42 (in two volumes) - (Minamoto Yoritomo)
- 43 - (Uesugi KenshinUesugi Kenshinwas a daimyo who ruled Echigo province in the Sengoku period of Japan.He was one of the most powerful lords of the Sengoku period. While chiefly remembered for his prowess on the battlefield, Kenshin is also regarded as an extremely skillful administrator who fostered the growth of local industries...
) - 44 - (Kuroda Yoshitaka)
- 45 - (Ooka Echizen)
- 46 - (Taira no MasakadoTaira no Masakadowas a samurai in the Heian period of Japan, who led one of the largest insurgent forces in the period against the central government of Kyoto.-History:...
) - 47 - 62 (in sixteen volumes) - (Shin Heike monogatari) - New Tale of the Heike
- 63 - 70 (in eight volumes) - (Shihon Taihei ki) - Private Record of the Pacific War
- 71 - 74 (in four volumes) - (Shin Suikoden) - New Tales from the Water MarginWater MarginWater Margin , also known as Outlaws of the Marsh, All Men Are Brothers, Men of the Marshes, or The Marshes of Mount Liang, is one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature.Attributed to Shi Nai'an and written in vernacular Chinese, the story, set in the Song Dynasty,...
- 75 - (Jirokichi Goshi) - "Jirokichi Goshi" and other stories
- 76 - (Yagyu Tsukikage sho) - "The Papers of Yagyu Tsukikage" and other stories
- 77 - (Wasurenokori no ki) - Record of Things Left Unforgotten
- 78 - 80 (in three volumes) - (Shinshu Tenma Kyo)