was a Japanese writer, translator, and literary critic. His writings are in the
realist style popular in the mid to late 19th century. His work ''
The Drifting Cloud'' (''Ukigumo'', 1887) is widely regarded as Japan's first modern novel.
Biography
Futabatei was born Hasegawa Tatsunosuke in
Edo
Edo (), also romanized as Jedo, Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo.
Edo, formerly a (castle town) centered on Edo Castle located in Musashi Province, became the '' de facto'' capital of Japan from 1603 as the seat of the Tokugawa shogu ...
(now
Tokyo
Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...
). After quitting his studies at the Russian language department at the Tokyo Foreign Language School in protest over administrative restructuring, Futabatei published the literary criticism ''Shōsetsu Sōron'' at the encouragement of the critic and author
Tsubouchi Shōyō in 1886. Futabatei's first novel ''
Ukigumo'' is often said to be unfinished, but its realist style strongly influenced fellow authors in his day. Futabatei was accomplished in Russian and translated the work of
Ivan Turgenev
Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev ( ; rus, links=no, Иван Сергеевич ТургеневIn Turgenev's day, his name was written ., p=ɪˈvan sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ tʊrˈɡʲenʲɪf; – ) was a Russian novelist, short story writer, poe ...
and other Russian realists into Japanese.
In 1902, he learned
Esperanto
Esperanto (, ) is the world's most widely spoken Constructed language, constructed international auxiliary language. Created by L. L. Zamenhof in 1887 to be 'the International Language' (), it is intended to be a universal second language for ...
in Russia. Returning to Japan in 1906, he published the first Japanese-Esperanto instruction book ''Sekaigo''.
Futabatei died of tuberculosis on the
Bay of Bengal
The Bay of Bengal is the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean. Geographically it is positioned between the Indian subcontinent and the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese peninsula, located below the Bengal region.
Many South Asian and Southe ...
while returning from Russia as a special correspondent for the ''
Asahi Shimbun
is a Japanese daily newspaper founded in 1879. It is one of the oldest newspapers in Japan and Asia, and is considered a newspaper of record for Japan.
The ''Asahi Shimbun'' is one of the five largest newspapers in Japan along with the ''Yom ...
'' newspaper. He was cremated and buried in Singapore.
The origin of Futabatei's pen name (a reference to "kutabatte shimae", lit. "drop dead") has been the repeated subject of speculation (including the allegation that these had been his father's words when he learned of his son's plans to study literature). Futabatei claimed that these were the words of his inner voice while in conflict between his artistic ideals and monetary aspirations.
Works
Novels
* 1887: ''Ukigumo'' (浮雲)
* 1906: ' (其面影, ''Sono Omokage'')
* 1907: ' (平凡)
Essays
* 1885: ''Bijutsu no hongi''
* 1886: ''Shōsetsu Sōron'' (小説総論)
References
External links
e-texts of Shimei's worksat
Aozora bunko
Shimei's grave in Singapore's Japanese Cemetery*
*
''An Adopted Husband'' [Sono Omokage/nowiki> (English trans. 1919)">ono Omokage
">''An Adopted Husband'' [Sono Omokage
/nowiki> (English trans. 1919)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Futabatei, Shimei
1864 births
1909 deaths
20th-century deaths from tuberculosis
Japanese Esperantists
Hitotsubashi University alumni
People who died at sea
19th-century Japanese novelists
20th-century Japanese novelists
The Asahi Shimbun people
Tuberculosis deaths in India