Morita Sohei
Encyclopedia
was the pen name
of Morita Yonematsu, a Japanese
novelist and translator of Western literature
active during the late Meiji
, Taishō
and early Shōwa period
s of Japan
.
, Gifu Prefecture
. At the age of 15, he was selected for the Imperial Japanese Navy
's preparatory course, and sent to boarding school
in Tokyo
. He managed to avoid conscription into the military, and attended what is now Kanazawa University
, where he met his future wife, and then went on to graduate from Tokyo Imperial University. He returned to Gifu, but remained drawn to literature, especially the works of Natsume Sōseki
, and of various English
and Russian
writers, he left his wife and returned to Tokyo
to pursue a career in the literary world.
Myōjō
for assistance in an introduction to Natsume Sōseki in an effort to become accepted as one of Soseki's students. Tekkan not only introduced Morita to Soseki, but also introduced him to the famous feminist activist and author Hiratsuka Raicho.
Morita won critical acclaim and acceptance as a serious writer with his novel Baien (Smoke, 1909), a largely autobiographical
account of his unhappy marriage, subsequent affair with Hiratsuka Raicho, and their unsuccessful attempt to commit double suicide
in Nasushiobara, Tochigi
. The novel appeared in serialized format in the Asahi Shimbun
newspaper.
From 1920-1930, Morita taught as a professor of English literature at Hosei University
. During this time, he published a large biography of Natsume Sōseki, and the novel Rinmei (Reincarnation, 1923–1925).
His house in Setagaya, Tokyo
was burned down during the Bombing of Tokyo in World War II
, and he relocated to Iida, Nagano
for the remainder of the war.
He turned to historical fiction
in his later years, with the novel Hosokawa Garashiya fujin (1949–1950), based on the life of the famous Christian convert Hosokawa Gracia
.
In addition to his own writings, Morita translated the works of Fyodor Dostoevsky
, Henrik Ibsen
, Miguel de Cervantes
, Gabriele D'Annunzio
, and Giovanni Boccaccio
into Japanese
. Towards the end of his life, he became a self-proclaimed member of the Japan Communist Party.
Morita died of liver disease
, aggravated by jaundice
.
Pen name
A pen name, nom de plume, or literary double, is a pseudonym adopted by an author. A pen name may be used to make the author's name more distinctive, to disguise his or her gender, to distance an author from some or all of his or her works, to protect the author from retribution for his or her...
of Morita Yonematsu, 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...
novelist and translator of Western literature
Western literature
Western literature refers to the literature written in the languages of Europe, including the ones belonging to the Indo-European language family as well as several geographically or historically related languages such as Basque, Hungarian, and so forth...
active during the late Meiji
Meiji period
The , also known as the Meiji era, is a Japanese era which extended from September 1868 through July 1912. This period represents the first half of the Empire of Japan.- Meiji Restoration and the emperor :...
, Taishō
Taisho period
The , or Taishō era, is a period in the history of Japan dating from July 30, 1912 to December 25, 1926, coinciding with the reign of the Taishō Emperor. The health of the new emperor was weak, which prompted the shift in political power from the old oligarchic group of elder statesmen to the Diet...
and early Shōwa period
Showa period
The , or Shōwa era, is the period of Japanese history corresponding to the reign of the Shōwa Emperor, Hirohito, from December 25, 1926 through January 7, 1989.The Shōwa period was longer than the reign of any previous Japanese emperor...
s of 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...
.
Early life
Morita was born into a farming family what is now GifuGifu, Gifu
is a city located in the south-central portion of Gifu Prefecture, Japan, and serves as the prefectural capital. The city has played an important role in Japan's history because of its location in the middle of the country. During the Sengoku period, various warlords, including Oda Nobunaga, used...
, Gifu Prefecture
Gifu Prefecture
is a prefecture located in the Chūbu region of central Japan. Its capital is the city of Gifu.Located in the center of Japan, it has long played an important part as the crossroads of Japan, connecting the east to the west through such routes as the Nakasendō...
. At the age of 15, he was selected for the Imperial Japanese Navy
Imperial Japanese Navy
The Imperial Japanese Navy was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1869 until 1947, when it was dissolved following Japan's constitutional renunciation of the use of force as a means of settling international disputes...
's preparatory course, and sent to boarding school
Boarding school
A boarding school is a school where some or all pupils study and live during the school year with their fellow students and possibly teachers and/or administrators. The word 'boarding' is used in the sense of "bed and board," i.e., lodging and meals...
in 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...
. He managed to avoid conscription into the military, and attended what is now Kanazawa University
Kanazawa University
is a national university of Japan located in the city of Kanazawa, the capital of Ishikawa Prefecture.Kanazawa University is divided into two main campuses: Kakuma and Takaramachi. Student enrollment is about 11,000 including 350 international students....
, where he met his future wife, and then went on to graduate from Tokyo Imperial University. He returned to Gifu, but remained drawn to literature, especially the works of Natsume Sōseki
Natsume Soseki
, born ', is widely considered to be the foremost Japanese novelist of the Meiji period . He is best known for his novels Kokoro, Botchan, I Am a Cat and his unfinished work Light and Darkness. He was also a scholar of British literature and composer of haiku, Chinese-style poetry, and fairy tales...
, and of various English
English literature
English literature is the literature written in the English language, including literature composed in English by writers not necessarily from England; for example, Robert Burns was Scottish, James Joyce was Irish, Joseph Conrad was Polish, Dylan Thomas was Welsh, Edgar Allan Poe was American, J....
and Russian
Russian literature
Russian literature refers to the literature of Russia or its émigrés, and to the Russian-language literature of several independent nations once a part of what was historically Russia or the Soviet Union...
writers, he left his wife and returned 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...
to pursue a career in the literary world.
Literary career
Morita approached Yosano Tekkan, editor of the influential literary magazineLiterary 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...
Myōjō
Myojo
' was the title of a monthly literary magazine first published in Japan between February 1900 and November 1908.The name Myōjō can be translates as either Bright Star or Morning Star. It was the organ of a poetry circle called Shinshisha which had been founded by Yosano Tekkan in 1899...
for assistance in an introduction to Natsume Sōseki in an effort to become accepted as one of Soseki's students. Tekkan not only introduced Morita to Soseki, but also introduced him to the famous feminist activist and author Hiratsuka Raicho.
Morita won critical acclaim and acceptance as a serious writer with his novel Baien (Smoke, 1909), a largely autobiographical
Autobiography
An autobiography is a book about the life of a person, written by that person.-Origin of the term:...
account of his unhappy marriage, subsequent affair with Hiratsuka Raicho, and their unsuccessful attempt to commit double suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
in Nasushiobara, Tochigi
Nasushiobara, Tochigi
is a city located in northern Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. Nasushiobara is the northernmost city in the Kantō region of Japan, bordering Fukushima Prefecture to the north, as well as nationally famous Nikkō City and the town of Nasu within Tochigi....
. The novel appeared in serialized format 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...
newspaper.
From 1920-1930, Morita taught as a professor of English literature at Hosei University
Hosei University
is a private university based in Tokyo, Japan.The university originated in a school of law, Tōkyō Hōgakusha , established in 1880, and the following year renamed Tōkyō Hōgakkō . This was from 1883 headed by Dr. Gustave Emile Boissonade, and was heavily influenced by the French legal tradition...
. During this time, he published a large biography of Natsume Sōseki, and the novel Rinmei (Reincarnation, 1923–1925).
His house in Setagaya, Tokyo
Setagaya, Tokyo
is one of the 23 special wards of Tokyo in Japan. It is also the name of a neighborhood within the ward. The ward calls itself the City of Setagaya in English...
was burned down during the Bombing of Tokyo in World War II
Bombing of Tokyo in World War II
The bombing of Tokyo, often referred to as a "firebombing", was conducted by the United States Army Air Forces during the Pacific campaigns of World War II. The U.S. mounted a small-scale raid on Tokyo in April 1942, with large morale effects...
, and he relocated to Iida, Nagano
Iida, Nagano
is a city located in southern Nagano Prefecture, Japan.Located on the Iida Line, an old local train line that runs through the valley of the Tenryū River in the southern Japan Alps, Iida lies 90 minutes northeast of the major city of Nagoya by automobile via the Chūō Expressway...
for the remainder of the war.
He turned to historical fiction
Historical fiction
Historical fiction tells a story that is set in the past. That setting is usually real and drawn from history, and often contains actual historical persons, but the principal characters tend to be fictional...
in his later years, with the novel Hosokawa Garashiya fujin (1949–1950), based on the life of the famous Christian convert Hosokawa Gracia
Hosokawa Gracia
', usually referred to as ', was a Christian convert, a daughter of Akechi Mitsuhide and the wife of Hosokawa Tadaoki....
.
In addition to his own writings, Morita translated the works of Fyodor Dostoevsky
Fyodor Dostoevsky
Fyodor Mikhaylovich Dostoyevsky was a Russian writer of novels, short stories and essays. He is best known for his novels Crime and Punishment, The Idiot and The Brothers Karamazov....
, Henrik Ibsen
Henrik Ibsen
Henrik Ibsen was a major 19th-century Norwegian playwright, theatre director, and poet. He is often referred to as "the father of prose drama" and is one of the founders of Modernism in the theatre...
, Miguel de Cervantes
Miguel de Cervantes
Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra was a Spanish novelist, poet, and playwright. His magnum opus, Don Quixote, considered the first modern novel, is a classic of Western literature, and is regarded amongst the best works of fiction ever written...
, Gabriele D'Annunzio
Gabriele D'Annunzio
Gabriele D'Annunzio or d'Annunzio was an Italian poet, journalist, novelist, and dramatist...
, and Giovanni Boccaccio
Giovanni Boccaccio
Giovanni Boccaccio was an Italian author and poet, a friend, student, and correspondent of Petrarch, an important Renaissance humanist and the author of a number of notable works including the Decameron, On Famous Women, and his poetry in the Italian vernacular...
into Japanese
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
. Towards the end of his life, he became a self-proclaimed member of the Japan Communist Party.
Morita died of liver disease
Liver disease
Liver disease is a broad term describing any single number of diseases affecting the liver.-Diseases:* Hepatitis, inflammation of the liver, caused mainly by various viruses but also by some poisons , autoimmunity or hereditary conditions...
, aggravated by jaundice
Jaundice
Jaundice is a yellowish pigmentation of the skin, the conjunctival membranes over the sclerae , and other mucous membranes caused by hyperbilirubinemia . This hyperbilirubinemia subsequently causes increased levels of bilirubin in the extracellular fluid...
.
External links
- e-texts of Morita’s works at Aozora BunkoAozora BunkoAozora 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....
(Japanese site) - Morita Sohei Memorial Museum in Gifu (Japanese site)