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was a

Japanese author This is an alphabetical list of writers who are Japanese, or are famous for having written in the Japanese language. Writers are listed by the native order of Japanese names, family name followed by given name to ensure consistency although some ...

critic A critic is a person who communicates an assessment and an opinion of various forms of creative works such as art, literature, music, cinema, theater, fashion, architecture, and food. Critics may also take as their subject social or gover ...

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

translator Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transl ...

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, or ...

educator A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

, and

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professo ...

Waseda University , mottoeng = Independence of scholarship , established = 21 October 1882 , type = Private , endowment = , president = Aiji Tanaka , city = Shinjuku , state = Tokyo , country = Japan , students = 47,959 , undergrad = 39,382 , postgrad ...

. He has been referred to as a seminal figure in Japanese drama. "Wetmore deals cleanly with Japanese theatre as part of the modernization project ..Wetmore notes some of the new attempts within the ''kabuki'' frame then takes us through the work of seminal figures like Osanai Kaoru, Tsbouchi Shōyo, and so on.

Biography

He was born ''Tsubouchi Yūzō'' (坪内雄蔵), in

Gifu prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Gifu Prefecture has a population of 1,991,390 () and has a geographic area of . Gifu Prefecture borders Toyama Prefecture to the north; Ishikawa Prefecture to the northwest, ...

. He also used the

pen name A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen na ...

''Harunoya Oboro'' (春のやおぼろ). His book of criticism, ''Shōsetsu Shinzui'' (The Essence of the Novel), helped free novels and dramas from the low opinion that the Japanese had of such literature. Tsubouchi's writings on realism in literature influenced

Masaoka Shiki , pen-name of Masaoka Noboru (正岡升), was a Japanese poet, author, and literary critic in Meiji period Japan. Shiki is regarded as a major figure in the development of modern haiku poetry, credited with writing nearly 20,000 stanzas during ...

's ideas about realism in

haiku is a type of short form poetry originally from Japan. Traditional Japanese haiku consist of three phrases that contain a '' kireji'', or "cutting word", 17 '' on'' (phonetic units similar to syllables) in a 5, 7, 5 pattern, and a '' kigo'', or ...

. Tsubouchi's novel, ''Tōsei Shosei Katagi'' (Portraits of Contemporary Students), was one of the earliest modern novels in Japan. His

Kabuki is a classical form of Japanese dance- drama. Kabuki theatre is known for its heavily-stylised performances, the often-glamorous costumes worn by performers, and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers. Kabuki is thought ...

play ''Kiri Hitoha'' (''A Paulownia Leaf'') was influenced by his studies of both the famous Kabuki and Jōruri (puppet theater) dramatist

Chikamatsu Monzaemon was a Japanese dramatist of jōruri, the form of puppet theater that later came to be known as bunraku, and the live-actor drama, kabuki. The ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' has written that he is "widely regarded as the greatest Japanese dramatis ...

and

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

. The play, in turn, influenced modern Kabuki. He also did a complete translation of the plays of Shakespeare, written in the old-fashion language of Kabuki. His modern play, ''Shinkyoku Urashima'', incorporating traditional dance and music, was a popular and critical success. The play was a retelling of a familiar Japanese folk-tale with a

Rip Van Winkle "Rip Van Winkle" is a short story by the American author Washington Irving, first published in 1819. It follows a Dutch-American villager in colonial America named Rip Van Winkle who meets mysterious Dutchmen, imbibes their liquor and falls aslee ...

-like protagonist,

Urashima Tarō is the protagonist of a Japanese fairy tale (''otogi banashi''), who in a typical modern version is a fisherman rewarded for rescuing a turtle, and carried on its back to the Dragon Palace (Ryūgū-jō) beneath the sea. There he is entertained ...

. Besides Shakespeare, he also translated a number of other works from English into Japanese, including

Sir Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels '' Ivanhoe'', '' Rob Roy ...

's ''The Bride of Lammermoor'' and

Bulwer-Lytton Bulwer-Lytton is a surname, and may refer to: * Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton (1803–1873), novelist and politician * Rosina Bulwer Lytton (1802–1882), feminist writer and wife of Edward Bulwer-Lytton * Robert Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Earl of ...

's novel ''Rienzi, the Last of the Roman Tribunes''. Tsubouchi founded and edited the periodical ''Waseda Bungaku'' (Waseda Literature), which published from 1891 to 1898. Tsubouchi is also noted for the long running ronsō (literary dispute) that he carried on with

Mori Ōgai Lieutenant-General , known by his pen name , was a Japanese Army Surgeon general officer, translator, novelist, poet and father of famed author Mari Mori. He obtained his medical license at a very young age and introduced translated German la ...

The

Waseda University Tsubouchi Memorial Theatre Museum The Tsubouchi Memorial Theatre Museum of Waseda University is a university museum devoted to the history of drama, with facilities used for cultural performances from all over the world. The museum was named for Tsubouchi Shōyō, a famous write ...

was named in his honour and houses a large collection of his works. A bronze bust of him was also placed there.

Works

Criticism

*''Shōsetsu Shinzui'' (The Essence of the Novel) (1885)

Novel

*''Tōsei Shosei Katagi'' (Portraits of Contemporary Students) (1885) *''Saikun'' (1889)

Kabuki plays

*''Kiri Hitoha'' (A Paulownia Leaf) written 1894-5, and performed in 1904 *''Maki no Kata'' (1896) *''Hototogisu Kojō no Rakugetsu'' (The Sinking Moon over the Lonely Castle Where the Cuckoo Cries) (1897)

Modern dramas

*''Shinkyoku Urashima'' (The New Urashima) (1904) *''En no Gyōja'' (En the Ascetic) (1916)

References

External links

Tsubouchi, Shoyo
at

National Diet Library The is the national library of Japan and among the largest libraries in the world. It was established in 1948 for the purpose of assisting members of the in researching matters of public policy. The library is similar in purpose and scope to ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

e-texts of Shoyo's works
at

Aozora Bunko Aozora Bunko (, literally the "Blue Sky Library", also known as the "Open Air Library") is a Japanese digital library. This online collection encompasses several thousands of works of Japanese-language fiction and non-fiction. These include out-o ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tsubouchi, Shoyo People from Gifu Prefecture 1859 births 1935 deaths Japanese writers Translators of William Shakespeare Writers from Gifu Prefecture