is a novel

Novel

A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....

 by Takiji Kobayashi, written in 1929. Written from a left-wing point of view, it concerns the crew of a crab fishing ship's hardships as they struggle under capitalist exploitation. The book has been made into a film and as manga

Manga

Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...

. It is a short work, totalling around 80 pages in its English language

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

 translation

Translation

Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. Whereas interpreting undoubtedly antedates writing, translation began only after the appearance of written literature; there exist partial translations of the Sumerian Epic of...

.

Synopsis

A crab

Crab

True crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura, which typically have a very short projecting "tail" , or where the reduced abdomen is entirely hidden under the thorax...

 fishing ship goes to the open sea off Kamchatka (now in Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

 but then in the Soviet Union

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

). The crew do not favour their prospects; one crewman declares "We're going to Hell!" The crew revolt against their sadistic captain and foreman, form a union

Trade union

A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...

 and take over the ship. However the new order on board is suppressed by soldiers.

The book expresses its pessimism from the beginning, not only in the opening remark but in the description of the harbour of Hakodate being filled with rubbish, and the smaller boats being compared to insects.

Revival of interest

Interest in the book has revived recently as the 2008 financial crisis has led to economic pressures on many Japanese

Japanese people

The are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...

 workers. Interest increased after an article discussing the book appeared in the 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...

newspaper on 9 January. This was followed by further articles in other papers, which came to call the revival the "Kanikōsen boom". Headlines like "Kanikōsen - Sad reminder, lamenting disparity, young people’s empathy" (Yomiuri Shimbun

Yomiuri Shimbun

The is a Japanese newspaper published in Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka, and other major Japanese cities. It is one of the five national newspapers in Japan; the other four are the Asahi Shimbun, the Mainichi Shimbun, Nihon Keizai Shimbun, and the Sankei Shimbun...

2 May) reflected its popularity among many disaffected young Japanese workers.

The Shinchōsha Publishing Company

Shinchosha

is a publisher founded in 1896 in Japan and headquartered in Yaraichō, Shinjuku, Tokyo. Shinchosha is one of the sponsors of the Japan Fantasy Novel Award.-Monthly:* ENGINE* Foresight* nicola*Shinchō-External links:*...

 originally planned to release 7,000 copies, to coincide with the 75th anniversary of the author's birth. As of May, 50,000 copies have been printed to cope with demand. As of August 2008, the book was near the top of several of Japan's bestseller lists, a remarkable feat for a book of this type.

Other versions

In 1953 the film Kanikōsen was released, directed by Sō Yamamura and starring himself, Masayuki Mori

Masayuki Mori (actor)

was a Japanese actor, the son of Takeo Arishima, a Japanese novelist active during the late Meiji and Taishō periods. Mori appeared in many of Akira Kurosawa's films such as Rashomon and The Idiot...

 and Sumiko Hidaka. It was awarded the best cinematography prize at the 1954 Mainichi Film Concours.

A manga

Manga

Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...

 version of the book first appeared in 2006, the first of four so far. During 2009, two stage adaptations of the novel were produced in Tokyo.

A remake of the film Kanikōsen, directed by Hiroyuki Tanaka and starring Ryuhei Matsuda

Ryuhei Matsuda

is a Japanese film and television actor. He is best known for his roles in Japanese films such as Taboo and Nana.-Early life:Matsuda was born on 9 May 1983 in Tokyo to Yusaku Matsuda, a Japanese actor, and Miyuki Matsuda , a Japanese actress. He has two siblings, one of whom is Japanese actor Shota...

 and Hidetoshi Nishijima was completed in 2009.

External links

• Kanikōsen online text.
• Red Star Rising