Shunro Oshikawa
Encyclopedia
, was a Japanese
author
, journalist
and editor
, best known as a pioneer of science fiction
.
) at the turn of the century, Oshikawa published Kaitō Bōken Kidan: Kaitei Gunkan (海島冒険奇譚 海底軍艦)("Undersea Warship"), the story of an armoured, ram
-armed submarine
in a future history
of war between Japan and Russia.
The novel reflects the imperialist ambitions of Japan at the time, and foreshadowed the Russo-Japanese War
that followed in 1904, driven by much the same motivation.
, whose technological adventure novel
s had become popular in translation in the rapidly modernising Meiji era
Japan. Specifically, the above-mentioned speculative conception of submarine warfare
, based on ramming and making no mention of torpedoes, is shared with Verne (see "Facing the Flag
", "HMS Sword
").
Later, Kaitei gunkan became the first in a wildly successful, six-volume series set in the Pacific and Indian Ocean
s: Bukyō no Nippon (武侠の日本 lit. Heroic Japan, 1902), Shinzō Gunkan (新造軍艦 lit. The Newly Built Battleship, 1904), Bukyō Kantai (武侠艦隊 lit. Heroic Armada, 1904), Shin Nippontō (新日本島 lit. New Japan Isle, 1906), and Tōyō Bukyō Dan (東洋武侠団 lit. East Asian Heroic Troupe, 1907).The books remained in print for many years and later got much additional attention through a successful film adaptation
.
Oshikawa was enthusiastic about sport
s, especially baseball
, and famously clashed with Inazō Nitobe
— one of the main proponents of the baseball considered harmful (野球害毒論) argument .
He has also contributed to the development of the Japanese detective fiction
. Some of his stories incorporated elements of ratiocination, sleuthing, mystery and crime within stories of adventure, intrigue, the bizarre and the grotesque - though in his time this did not yet become a distinct genre on its own.
In the detailed list compiled by "The Victorian
Bookshelf" project of "Confluence 2000," tracing the early development of "The Scientific Romance
and other Related Works", Oshikawa Shunrō is the only non-Western author mentioned for the pre-1900 period.
It should be noted, however, that all the above is inextricably mixed with Oshikawa's share in and responsibility for helping to perpetuate in Japanese popular culture
- especially through works greatly influencing children and youths which remained in print for many decades after his own time - themes of Japanese nationalism
and patriotism
, some which can be considered to promote militarism
and imperialism
as well.
As noted by Jeffrey M. Angles in his 2003 Ohio State University
dissertation on Japanese popular authors in the early Twentieth Century, Shunro is best remembered in Japan for his important role in developing adventure tales into an independent genre of children's fiction.
Oshikawa entered the publishing company Hakubunkan
at the introduction of the author Iwaya Sazanami (1870–1933) and served as a lead reporter for "Shaijitsu Gahō
" (写実画報 lit. Graphic Pictorial), a magazine that featured stories and photos about the Russo-Japanese War
of 1904. This magazine ceased publication in 1907, but Oshikawa became co-editor of another Hakubunkan magazine, "Bōken Sekai".
During and following the war with Russia there was a strong patriotic wave in Japan, and - though their country had won a decisive victory over the Russians and capitalized upon it to annex Korea
- some Japanese were left feeling dissatisfied with the war's achievements. An earlier magazine - "Tanken Sekai
" (探検世界 lit. World of Exploration), published by Hakubunkan's competitor Seikōzasshisha (成功雑誌社) - catered to those wishing to read tales of Japanese adventure and exploration abroad and fantasies of imperialistic superiority and Japanese valor, in which fiction was mixed with more or less factual accounts of exploration, record-breaking achievements and "unusual customs" from around the world.
Hakubunkan's "Bōken Sekai" (冒険世界), which Oshikawa co-edited, was - as clearly shown by researcher Kawataro Nakajima - designed to appeal to the same kind of public, which had shown itself attracted to tales of military adventure and heroism. "Bōken Sekai" often contained allegedly true stories of adventure, exploration, military prowess and accounts of "primitive" lands, all of which reflected Japanese nationalism and imperial ambitions. At the same time, however, it also published mysteries, including translations of Western Detective Stories, as well as ghost stories
. Virtually every issue of the magazine included a story or article by Oshikawa himself.
After a dispute with his publisher, Oshikawa left Hakubunkan. In October 1911 he founded the magazine "Buykō Sekai" (武侠世界) with the capital of an entrepreneur named Yanaginuma Kensuke, whose publishing house (Bukyō Sekaisha, later Bukyōsha) concentrated at the time on books of adventure, sports and physical activity for young people. Oshikawa's new monthly magazine, which he edited until his death, strongly resembled his earlier one, and it too carried tales of exploration, non-fictional adventure stories, editorials, sports-related tales, and translations of mysteries.
On August 6, 1914, Oshikawa was accompanied by several of the magazine's editors, contributors, illustrators and fans on an outing to a lakeshore in the northern part of the Kantō region
. Possibly because of his death shortly afterwards, that outing seemed to be long remembered by and influence the later work of participants such as the artist Kosugi Misei who had illustrated many of Oshikawa's stories and followed him from his earlier magazine to the later one.
Oshikawa's works were never translated in any significant way to Western languages, leaving his literary influence limited mainly to Japan itself. However, the many loose film adaptation
s of his books, starting in the 1960s, did gain a considerable audience in America and Europe, such as Kaitai Gunkan (1963, released in the US as Atragon
) - an adaptation
which came to be considered "a Classic of Science Fiction Films" - and Shin Kaitei Gunkan (1995, released in the US as Super Atragon).
The film versions were considerably different from the original, both due to the addition of Science Fiction and Fantasy elements such as a daikaiju
and because the handling of Oshikawa's nationalist themes was naturally influenced by Japan's profound grappling with this issue in the aftermath of the Second World War.
The "Buykō Sekai" magazine survived its founder and continued publication after Oshikawa's death, until 1923.
The book Kaidanji: Oshikawa Shunrō (快男児・押川春浪)("Devil of a fellow:Oshikawa Shunrou"), by Yokota Jun'ya and Aizu Shingo, won the Nihon SF Taisho (Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of Japan) Award for 1988.
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
Japanese literature
Early works of Japanese literature were heavily influenced by cultural contact with China and Chinese literature, often written in Classical Chinese. Indian literature also had an influence through the diffusion of Buddhism in Japan...
, journalist
Journalism
Journalism is the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad audience in a timely fashion. Though there are many variations of journalism, the ideal is to inform the intended audience. Along with covering organizations and institutions such as government and...
and editor
Editing
Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, and film media used to convey information through the processes of correction, condensation, organization, and other modifications performed with an intention of producing a correct, consistent, accurate, and complete...
, best known as a pioneer of science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
.
Education and early career
While studying law at Tōkyō Senmon Gakkō (present day Waseda UniversityWaseda University
, abbreviated as , is one of the most prestigious private universities in Japan and Asia. Its main campuses are located in the northern part of Shinjuku, Tokyo. Founded in 1882 as Tokyo Senmon Gakko, the institution was renamed "Waseda University" in 1902. It is known for its liberal climate...
) at the turn of the century, Oshikawa published Kaitō Bōken Kidan: Kaitei Gunkan (海島冒険奇譚 海底軍艦)("Undersea Warship"), the story of an armoured, ram
Ramming
In warfare, ramming is a technique that was used in air, sea and land combat. The term originated from battering ram, a siege weapon used to bring down fortifications by hitting it with the force of the ram's momentum...
-armed submarine
Submarine
A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...
in a future history
Future history
A future history is a postulated history of the future and is used by authors in the subgenre of speculative fiction to construct a common background for fiction...
of war between Japan and Russia.
The novel reflects the imperialist ambitions of Japan at the time, and foreshadowed the Russo-Japanese War
Russo-Japanese War
The Russo-Japanese War was "the first great war of the 20th century." It grew out of rival imperial ambitions of the Russian Empire and Japanese Empire over Manchuria and Korea...
that followed in 1904, driven by much the same motivation.
Influences and later works
Like other early science fiction writers of the period, he was influenced by the stories of Jules VerneJules Verne
Jules Gabriel Verne was a French author who pioneered the science fiction genre. He is best known for his novels Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea , A Journey to the Center of the Earth , and Around the World in Eighty Days...
, whose technological adventure novel
Adventure novel
The adventure novel is a genre of novels that has adventure, an exciting undertaking involving risk and physical danger, as its main theme.-History:...
s had become popular in translation in the rapidly modernising Meiji era
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 :...
Japan. Specifically, the above-mentioned speculative conception of submarine warfare
Submarine warfare
Naval warfare is divided into three operational areas: surface warfare, air warfare and underwater warfare. The latter may be subdivided into submarine warfare and anti-submarine warfare as well as mine warfare and mine countermeasures...
, based on ramming and making no mention of torpedoes, is shared with Verne (see "Facing the Flag
Facing the Flag
Facing the Flag or For the Flag is an 1896 patriotic novel by Jules Verne. The book is part of the Voyages Extraordinaires series....
", "HMS Sword
HMS Sword
HMS Sword is a fictional experimental submarine of the British Royal Navy in Jules Verne's 1896 novel Facing the Flag.As described by Verne, Sword was a "submersible boat of only twelve tons", carrying a crew of four and commanded by a lieutenant...
").
Later, Kaitei gunkan became the first in a wildly successful, six-volume series set in the Pacific and Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...
s: Bukyō no Nippon (武侠の日本 lit. Heroic Japan, 1902), Shinzō Gunkan (新造軍艦 lit. The Newly Built Battleship, 1904), Bukyō Kantai (武侠艦隊 lit. Heroic Armada, 1904), Shin Nippontō (新日本島 lit. New Japan Isle, 1906), and Tōyō Bukyō Dan (東洋武侠団 lit. East Asian Heroic Troupe, 1907).The books remained in print for many years and later got much additional attention through a successful film adaptation
Film adaptation
Film adaptation is the transfer of a written work to a feature film. It is a type of derivative work.A common form of film adaptation is the use of a novel as the basis of a feature film, but film adaptation includes the use of non-fiction , autobiography, comic book, scripture, plays, and even...
.
Oshikawa was enthusiastic about sport
Sport
A Sport is all forms of physical activity which, through casual or organised participation, aim to use, maintain or improve physical fitness and provide entertainment to participants. Sport may be competitive, where a winner or winners can be identified by objective means, and may require a degree...
s, especially baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
, and famously clashed with Inazō Nitobe
Inazo Nitobe
was a Japanese agricultural economist, author, educator, diplomat, politician, and Christian during Meiji and Taishō period Japan.-Early Life:Nitobe was born in Morioka, Mutsu Province . His father was a retainer to the local daimyō of the Nambu clan. His infant name was Inanosuke...
— one of the main proponents of the baseball considered harmful (野球害毒論) argument .
He has also contributed to the development of the Japanese detective fiction
Japanese detective fiction
, is a popular genre of Japanese literature. It's generally called in Japan.- Name :When the Western detective fictions spread into Japan, it created a new genre called detective fiction in Japanese literature....
. Some of his stories incorporated elements of ratiocination, sleuthing, mystery and crime within stories of adventure, intrigue, the bizarre and the grotesque - though in his time this did not yet become a distinct genre on its own.
In the detailed list compiled by "The Victorian
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
Bookshelf" project of "Confluence 2000," tracing the early development of "The Scientific Romance
Scientific romance
Scientific romance is a bygone name for what is now commonly known as science fiction. The term is most associated with early British science fiction. The earliest noteworthy use of the term scientific romance is believed to have been by Charles Howard Hinton in his 1886 collection...
and other Related Works", Oshikawa Shunrō is the only non-Western author mentioned for the pre-1900 period.
It should be noted, however, that all the above is inextricably mixed with Oshikawa's share in and responsibility for helping to perpetuate in Japanese popular culture
Japanese popular culture
Japanese popular culture not only reflects the attitudes and concerns of the present but also provides a link to the past. Japanese cinema, cuisine, television programs, manga, and music all developed from older artistic and literary traditions, and many of their themes and styles of presentation...
- especially through works greatly influencing children and youths which remained in print for many decades after his own time - themes of Japanese nationalism
Nationalism
Nationalism is a political ideology that involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. In the 'modernist' image of the nation, it is nationalism that creates national identity. There are various definitions for what...
and patriotism
Patriotism
Patriotism is a devotion to one's country, excluding differences caused by the dependencies of the term's meaning upon context, geography and philosophy...
, some which can be considered to promote militarism
Militarism
Militarism is defined as: the belief or desire of a government or people that a country should maintain a strong military capability and be prepared to use it aggressively to defend or promote national interests....
and imperialism
Imperialism
Imperialism, as defined by Dictionary of Human Geography, is "the creation and/or maintenance of an unequal economic, cultural, and territorial relationships, usually between states and often in the form of an empire, based on domination and subordination." The imperialism of the last 500 years,...
as well.
As noted by Jeffrey M. Angles in his 2003 Ohio State University
Ohio State University
The Ohio State University, commonly referred to as Ohio State, is a public research university located in Columbus, Ohio. It was originally founded in 1870 as a land-grant university and is currently the third largest university campus in the United States...
dissertation on Japanese popular authors in the early Twentieth Century, Shunro is best remembered in Japan for his important role in developing adventure tales into an independent genre of children's fiction.
Oshikawa entered the publishing company Hakubunkan
Hakubunkan
is a Japanese publishing company founded in 1887 amidst the wealth and military prosperity of the Meiji era. Hakubunkan entered the publishing arena by printing a nationalist magazine as well as expanding into printing, advertising, paper manufacturing, and related businesses, becoming one of...
at the introduction of the author Iwaya Sazanami (1870–1933) and served as a lead reporter for "Shaijitsu Gahō
Shaijitsu gaho
was a Japanese magazine of the early 20th century, published by the Hakubunkan publishing company. It featured stories and photos about the Russo-Japanese War of 1905. Shunrō Oshikawawas its lead reporter. The magazine ceased publication in 1907....
" (写実画報 lit. Graphic Pictorial), a magazine that featured stories and photos about the Russo-Japanese War
Russo-Japanese War
The Russo-Japanese War was "the first great war of the 20th century." It grew out of rival imperial ambitions of the Russian Empire and Japanese Empire over Manchuria and Korea...
of 1904. This magazine ceased publication in 1907, but Oshikawa became co-editor of another Hakubunkan magazine, "Bōken Sekai".
During and following the war with Russia there was a strong patriotic wave in Japan, and - though their country had won a decisive victory over the Russians and capitalized upon it to annex Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
- some Japanese were left feeling dissatisfied with the war's achievements. An earlier magazine - "Tanken Sekai
Tanken Sekai
Tanken sekai was a Japanese magazine of the early Twentieth Century, published by the Seikosha publishing house which was part of the still-extant Seiko empire....
" (探検世界 lit. World of Exploration), published by Hakubunkan's competitor Seikōzasshisha (成功雑誌社) - catered to those wishing to read tales of Japanese adventure and exploration abroad and fantasies of imperialistic superiority and Japanese valor, in which fiction was mixed with more or less factual accounts of exploration, record-breaking achievements and "unusual customs" from around the world.
Hakubunkan's "Bōken Sekai" (冒険世界), which Oshikawa co-edited, was - as clearly shown by researcher Kawataro Nakajima - designed to appeal to the same kind of public, which had shown itself attracted to tales of military adventure and heroism. "Bōken Sekai" often contained allegedly true stories of adventure, exploration, military prowess and accounts of "primitive" lands, all of which reflected Japanese nationalism and imperial ambitions. At the same time, however, it also published mysteries, including translations of Western Detective Stories, as well as ghost stories
Ghost story
A ghost story may be any piece of fiction, or drama, or an account of an experience, that includes a ghost, or simply takes as a premise the possibility of ghosts or characters' belief in them. Colloquially, the term can refer to any kind of scary story. In a narrower sense, the ghost story has...
. Virtually every issue of the magazine included a story or article by Oshikawa himself.
After a dispute with his publisher, Oshikawa left Hakubunkan. In October 1911 he founded the magazine "Buykō Sekai" (武侠世界) with the capital of an entrepreneur named Yanaginuma Kensuke, whose publishing house (Bukyō Sekaisha, later Bukyōsha) concentrated at the time on books of adventure, sports and physical activity for young people. Oshikawa's new monthly magazine, which he edited until his death, strongly resembled his earlier one, and it too carried tales of exploration, non-fictional adventure stories, editorials, sports-related tales, and translations of mysteries.
On August 6, 1914, Oshikawa was accompanied by several of the magazine's editors, contributors, illustrators and fans on an outing to a lakeshore in the northern part of the Kantō region
Kanto region
The is a geographical area of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. The region includes the Greater Tokyo Area and encompasses seven prefectures: Gunma, Tochigi, Ibaraki, Saitama, Tokyo, Chiba, and Kanagawa. Within its boundaries, slightly more than 40 percent of the land area is the Kantō Plain....
. Possibly because of his death shortly afterwards, that outing seemed to be long remembered by and influence the later work of participants such as the artist Kosugi Misei who had illustrated many of Oshikawa's stories and followed him from his earlier magazine to the later one.
Oshikawa's works were never translated in any significant way to Western languages, leaving his literary influence limited mainly to Japan itself. However, the many loose film adaptation
Film adaptation
Film adaptation is the transfer of a written work to a feature film. It is a type of derivative work.A common form of film adaptation is the use of a novel as the basis of a feature film, but film adaptation includes the use of non-fiction , autobiography, comic book, scripture, plays, and even...
s of his books, starting in the 1960s, did gain a considerable audience in America and Europe, such as Kaitai Gunkan (1963, released in the US as Atragon
Atragon
Atragon, released in Japan as , is a 1963 Toho tokusatsu film based on a series of juvenile adventure novels under the banner Kaitei Gunkan by Shunrō Oshikawa and the illustrated story Kaitei Okoku by illustrator Shigeru Komatsuzaki, serialized in a monthly magazine for boys...
) - an adaptation
Film adaptation
Film adaptation is the transfer of a written work to a feature film. It is a type of derivative work.A common form of film adaptation is the use of a novel as the basis of a feature film, but film adaptation includes the use of non-fiction , autobiography, comic book, scripture, plays, and even...
which came to be considered "a Classic of Science Fiction Films" - and Shin Kaitei Gunkan (1995, released in the US as Super Atragon).
The film versions were considerably different from the original, both due to the addition of Science Fiction and Fantasy elements such as a daikaiju
Kaiju
is a Japanese word that means "strange beast," but often translated in English as "monster". Specifically, it is used to refer to a genre of tokusatsu entertainment....
and because the handling of Oshikawa's nationalist themes was naturally influenced by Japan's profound grappling with this issue in the aftermath of the Second World War.
The "Buykō Sekai" magazine survived its founder and continued publication after Oshikawa's death, until 1923.
The book Kaidanji: Oshikawa Shunrō (快男児・押川春浪)("Devil of a fellow:Oshikawa Shunrou"), by Yokota Jun'ya and Aizu Shingo, won the Nihon SF Taisho (Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of Japan) Award for 1988.