was a 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...

 author

Author

An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...

 of proletarian literature

Proletarian literature

Proletarian literature refers to the literature created by working-class writers for the class-conscious proletariat, published by the communist parties. It was a literature without literary pretensions....

.

Biography

Kobayashi was born in Odate

Odate, Akita

is a city located in Akita in Tōhoku region of Japan.The city was founded on April 1, 1951.As of 2003, the city had an estimated population of 65,090 and the density of 162.10 persons per km²...

, Akita

Akita Prefecture

is a prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku Region of northern Honshu, the main island of Japan. The capital is the city of Akita.- History :The area of Akita has been created from the ancient provinces of Dewa and Mutsu....

, Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 and was brought up in Otaru, Hokkaidō

Hokkaido

, formerly known as Ezo, Yezo, Yeso, or Yesso, is Japan's second largest island; it is also the largest and northernmost of Japan's 47 prefectural-level subdivisions. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaido from Honshu, although the two islands are connected by the underwater railway Seikan Tunnel...

. After graduating from the Otaru School of Higher Learning, which is the current Otaru University of Commerce

Otaru University of Commerce

is one of the most difficult University in Japan--also --- national universities in Japan.　Most of graduate get a job in elite companies. The main campus of the university is located in Otaru, Hokkaidō, Japan, and the satellite campus is located in Chūō-ku, Sapporo.- History :The origin of the...

, he worked at the Otaru branch of Hokkaido Takushoku Bank

Hokkaido Takushoku Bank

, literally Hokkaidō Exploitation Bank, was one of major commercial banks in Japan, founded in 1899 as a "Special Bank" to promote capitalization on the island of Hokkaidō. Its nickname was ; it was also known in the media and business world as...

. His most famous work is Kanikōsen

Kanikosen

is a novel 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...

, or Crab-Canning Boata 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....

 published in 1929. It tells the story of several different people and the beginning of organization into unions of fishing workers. He joined the Japanese Communist Party

Japanese Communist Party

The Japanese Communist Party is a left-wing political party in Japan.The JCP advocates the establishment of a society based on socialism, democracy and peace, and opposition to militarism...

 in 1931. The young writer was killed during a torture

Torture

Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...

 session by Tokkō police two years later, at age 29.

Life

At the age of four his family moved to Otaru, Hokkaidō

Hokkaido

, formerly known as Ezo, Yezo, Yeso, or Yesso, is Japan's second largest island; it is also the largest and northernmost of Japan's 47 prefectural-level subdivisions. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaido from Honshu, although the two islands are connected by the underwater railway Seikan Tunnel...

. The family was not wealthy, but Kobayashi's uncle paid his schooling expenses and he was able to attend Hokkaidō Otaru Commercial High School and Otaru Commercial School of Higher Learning. While studying he became interested in writing, and submitted essays to literary magazine

Literary magazine

A literary magazine is a periodical devoted to literature in a broad sense. Literary magazines usually publish short stories, poetry and essays along with literary criticism, book reviews, biographical profiles of authors, interviews and letters...

s, served in the editorial committee for his school's alumni association magazine, and also had his own writing published. One of his teachers at school was economist, critic, and poet Nobuyuki Okuma. Around this time, due to financial hardship and the current economic recession of the time, he joined the labor movement.

After graduating school he worked in the Otaru branch of the Hokkaidō Takushoku Bank

Hokkaido Takushoku Bank

, literally Hokkaidō Exploitation Bank, was one of major commercial banks in Japan, founded in 1899 as a "Special Bank" to promote capitalization on the island of Hokkaidō. Its nickname was ; it was also known in the media and business world as...

. In the 1928 general election, Kobayashi helped with election candidate Kenzo Yamamoto's campaign, and went to Yamamoto's campaign speech in a village at the base of Mount Yōtei

Mount Yotei

is an active stratovolcano located in Shikotsu-Toya National Park, Hokkaidō, Japan. It is also called , because it resembles the more famous Mount Fuji. The mountain is also known as and . It is one of the 100 famous mountains in Japan.-Geology:...

. This experience was later incorporated into his book 東倶知安行. In the same year his story March 15, 1928 (based on the March 15 incident

March 15 incident

was a crackdown on socialists and communists by the Japanese government in 1928. Among those who were arrested in the incident was Marxist economist Kawakami Hajime.-Background:...

) was published in the literary magazine Senki ("Standard of Battle" in Japanese). The story depicted torture by the Tokkō

Tokkō

Tokkō is a Japanese abbreviation which may refer to;* In the context of World War II Japan:** Tokkō , short for Tokubetsu Kōgekitai , a military unit known for conducting kamikaze attacks...

 police, which in turn infuriated government officials, and would become the trigger for Kobayashi's eventual murder.

In 1929, his story Kanikōsen

Kanikosen

is a novel 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...

was also published in Senki, and quickly gained attention and became the standard bearer of proletarian literature. In July of that year it was adapted into a theatrical performance and was performed at the Imperial Garden Theater

Imperial Garden Theater

The is a Japanese theater located in Marunouchi, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan operated by Toho. Opened in 1911 as the first Western-style theater in Japan, it stages a varied program of musicals and operas.-External links:...

 under the title 北緯五十度以北 (North of latitude 50 degrees north

50th parallel north

The 50th parallel north is a circle of latitude that is 50 degrees north of the Earth's equatorial plane. It crosses Europe, Asia, the Pacific Ocean, North America, and the Atlantic Ocean....

). However the police (in particular the Tokkō police of the time) marked him for surveillance. In the same year his essay published in Chūōkōron

Chuokoron

is a monthly Japanese literary magazine is a monthly Japanese literary magazine is a monthly Japanese literary magazine is a monthly Japanese literary magazine is a monthly Japanese literary magazine is a monthly Japanese literary magazine is a monthly Japanese literary magazine is a monthly...

magazine became grounds for his dismissal from his job at the bank.

In the spring of 1930, he moved to Tōkyō and became the secretary general of the Proletarian Writer's Guild of Japan. On May 23 he was arrested on suspicion of giving financial support to the Japan Communist Party, and was temporarily released on June 7. After returning to Tokyo on June 24, he was again arrested and in July, due to Kanikōsen

Kanikosen

is a novel 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...

he was further indicted on charges of Lèse majesté

Lèse majesté

Lese-majesty is the crime of violating majesty, an offence against the dignity of a reigning sovereign or against a state.This behavior was first classified as a criminal offence against the dignity of the Roman republic in Ancient Rome...

. In August, he was prosecuted under the Public Order and Police Law of 1900

Peace Preservation Law

The Public Security Preservation Laws were a series of laws enacted during the Empire of Japan. Collectively, the laws were designed to suppress political dissent.-the Safety Preservation Law of 1894:...

 and was imprisoned in Toyotama Penitentiary. On January 22, 1931 he was released on bail. He then secluded himself at the Nanasawa Hot Spring in Kanagawa Prefecture

Kanagawa 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 October 1931 he became a member of the outlawed Japan Communist Party . In November he visited the mansion of Naoya Shiga in Nara Prefecture

Nara Prefecture

is a prefecture in the Kansai region on Honshū Island, Japan. The capital is the city of Nara.-History:The present-day Nara Prefecture was created in 1887, making it independent of Osaka Prefecture....

. In the spring of 1932 he went underground.
On February 20, 1933 he went to a meeting spot in Akasaka

Akasaka, Tokyo

is a residential and commercial district of Minato, Tokyo, located west of the government center in Nagatachō and north of the Roppongi nightlife district....

 to meet with a fellow Communist Party member, who was in reality a spy from the Tokkō police who had infiltrated the party. The Tokkō were lying in wait for him, and although he tried to escape, he was captured and arrested. He was apparently stripped naked in the freezing winter cold, beaten with thick sticks, and then taken to a hospital where he died at 7:45 pm.

Police authorities announced the following day that he had died of a heart attack. However the next day when his family received his body, they saw his whole body was swollen from torture, in particular the lower half of his body was darkish from internal haemorrhaging. No hospital would perform an autopsy

Autopsy

An autopsy—also known as a post-mortem examination, necropsy , autopsia cadaverum, or obduction—is a highly specialized surgical procedure that consists of a thorough examination of a corpse to determine the cause and manner of death and to evaluate any disease or injury that may be present...

 for fear of the Tokkō police. His postmortem face was published in the Communist Party newspaper Shimbun Akahata.

Best-seller

Kanikōsen In 2008, "A Crab Canning Boat

Kanikosen

is a novel 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...

," a 1929 Marxist novel about a crab-canning ship's crew determined to stand up to a cruel manager under harsh conditions, became a surprise bestseller, thanks to an advertising campaign linking the novel to the working poor.

Works

• Kanikōsen
  Kanikosen
  is a novel 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...
  
  
• March 15, 1928 (based on the March 15 incident
  March 15 incident
  was a crackdown on socialists and communists by the Japanese government in 1928. Among those who were arrested in the incident was Marxist economist Kawakami Hajime.-Background:...
  
  .)
• Yasuko
• Life of a Party Member

Translations

Kobayashi Takiji's principal works have been translated into numerous languages, including Russian, Chinese, English, Spanish, German, French, Polish, and Norwegian.

In 1933 The Cannery Boat and other Japanese short stories was translated and published by the International Publishers in New York. Because of censorship, the translation of the title text (Kani kōsen) is incomplete, comprising slightly more than half of the original. The full text of the novel was not available in Japan until 1948.

In 1973, an English translation of Takiji's two novels by Frank Motofuji under the titles The Factory Ship (Kani kōsen) and The Absentee Landlord (Fuzai jinushi) was published by the University of Tokyo Press under sponsorship from UNESCO

UNESCO

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...

.

In 2012 The Crab Cannery Ship and Other Novels of Struggle will be published by the University of Hawai'i Press. In addition to a new translation of the title text (Kani kōsen), the book includes Yasuko and Life of a Party Member (Tōseikatsusha). The introduction is by Komori Yōichi, professor of Japanese literature at Tokyo University.

External links

• e-texts of Takiji's works at Aozora bunko
  Aozora Bunko
  Aozora Bunko is a Japanese digital library. This online collection encompasses several thousands of works of Japanese-language fiction and non-fiction. These include out-of-copyright books or works that the authors wish to make freely available....
  
  
• Takiji Kobayashi's grave
• German translation of "March 15, 1928" at Marxists.org