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Pen Butai
The was a Japanese government organisation which existed between 1938 and 1942. It was composed of Japanese authors who travelled the front during the Second Sino-Japanese War to write favourably of Japan's war efforts in China. History The Pen Butai was formed in 1938 after a meeting between the Cabinet Intelligence Department and writers Kan Kikuchi, Masao Kume, Eiji Yoshikawa, Riichi Yokomitsu, Haruo Satō, Nobuko Yoshiya and Fumio Niwa. The aim was to have popular authors travel the Sino-Japanese front and write favourably of their experiences in form of stories, novels, plays, poems and personal journals for propagandistic purposes. Those who participated were offered free travel, accommodation and food, access to off-limits war areas and the possibility to interview important military figures. The invitation sent out by the government met with such an enthusiastic response that not all writers who wished to join could be accommodated. 22 men and two women were flown ov ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Second Sino-Japanese War
The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) or War of Resistance (Chinese term) was a military conflict that was primarily waged between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. The war made up the Chinese theater of the wider Pacific Theater of the Second World War. The beginning of the war is conventionally dated to the Marco Polo Bridge Incident on 7 July 1937, when a dispute between Japanese and Chinese troops in Peking escalated into a full-scale invasion. Some Chinese historians believe that the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 18 September 1931 marks the start of the war. This full-scale war between the Chinese and the Empire of Japan is often regarded as the beginning of World War II in Asia. China fought Japan with aid from Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, United Kingdom and the United States. After the Japanese attacks on Malaya and Pearl Harbor in 1941, the war merged with other conflicts which are generally categorized under those conflicts of World War II ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Matsutarō Kawaguchi
was a Japanese writer of short stories, novels, dramas and screenplays. He repeatedly collaborated on the films of director Kenji Mizoguchi. Biography Kawaguchi was born in the plebeian Asakusa district of Tokyo into an impoverished family. He was forced to leave home at the age of 14 to seek employment. He started to write in his spare time, while working at various jobs, which included working in a pawn shop, as a tailor, a policeman and as a postman at one point in his life. He came to be acquainted with author Kubota Mantaro, who encouraged him in his literary efforts. Kawaguchi was arrested in Kamakura, Kanagawa in 1933, along with fellow literati Kume Masao and Satomi Ton for illegal card gambling. In 1935, Kawaguchi won the first Naoki Prize for a short story titled ''Tsuruhachi Tsurujirō''. He followed this with a serialized novel, ''Aizen Katsura'', a melodramatic love story involving a nurse and a doctor, which ran from 1937–1938. The story became a tremendously ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Senbu
The term was used by the Imperial Japanese Army to refer to psychological warfare operations intended to pacify local populations and accelerate the process of Japanization. Summary The first ''senbu'' team was organized in 1932 by (1895–1944), a civilian employed by the Kwantung Army, as part of the preparations for the Battle of Rehe. The term comes from the (宣撫使) envoys dispatched in ancient times by Chinese states to maintain control over regions destabilized by war. Remnants of defeated Chinese armies frequently broke apart into marauding gangs of ''honghuzi'' who terrorized the rural population. This, combined with reports of Japanese war crimes, violence by Japanese forces as well as the general chaos that followed the fires of war, contributed to panic and brought about a collapse of functioning society as masses of civilians fled to urban areas where they could expect protection by garrisoned Japanese troops. According to the scorched earth policy (''jianbi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tokutomi Sohō
was the pen name of a journalist and historian active from late Meiji period through mid-Shōwa period Japan. Named Tokutomi Iichirō at birth, he was the older brother of noted author, Tokutomi Roka. Biography Sohō was born in Minamata, Higo Province (now Kumamoto prefecture), into a samurai family just before the Meiji Restoration. He studied '' Eigaku'' (study of the English language as a means to acquire Western knowledge, especially after the end of Japan's period of isolation) at the ''Kumamoto Yogakko'', and later at the ''Doshisha'' (subsequently Doshisha University) in Kyoto. He left school without graduating, but later wrote of his gratitude to the school's principal, Joseph Hardy Neesima. Following a period back in Kumamoto, where he started a local newspaper, Sohō moved to Tokyo. In 1887, he established the Min'yūsha publishing company, which printed Japan's first general news magazine, the '' Kokumin no Tomo'' ("The People's Friend") from 1887 to 1898. This ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chūō Kōron
is a monthly Japanese literary magazine (), first established during the Meiji period and continuing to this day. It is published by its namesake-bearing Chūōkōron Shinsha (formerly Chūōkōron-sha). The headquarters is in Tokyo. ''Chūō Kōron'' publishes a wide variety of material, including novels, photographs and reports based on various philosophical, economic, political, cultural and social topics. Early history The magazine was first published in January 1887 under the title in Kyoto by the , a literary group of professors and students of Ryukoku University. In 1899, the magazine changed its name to ''Chūō Kōron''. In the 1920s, journalist Yūsaku Shimanaka rose to become editor-in-chief and later owner of ''Chūō Kōron.'' During the World War II editors of the magazine were arrested in the Yokohama incident. In 1944 the magazine was closed down due to its anti-war sentiments but publication resumed in 1946. In 1949, ownership and control of the magazine ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tatsuzō Ishikawa
was a Japanese writer. He was the first winner of the Akutagawa Prize. Biography Born in Yokote, Akita Prefecture, Japan, Ishikawa was raised in several places, including Kyoto and Okayama Prefecture. He entered Waseda University's literature department but left before graduating. In 1930 he left Japan for Brazil and worked on a farm. Ishikawa won the first Akutagawa Prize in 1935 for ''Sōbō'' (蒼氓), a novel based on his experiences in Brazil. In December 1937, Ishikawa was dispatched to Nanjing as a special reporter by the ''Chūō Kōron'' publishing company. After landing in Shanghai, he arrived in Nanjing in January 1938, weeks after the fall of the city to the Imperial Japanese Army. Embedded within an army unit later connected to the Nanking Massacre, Ishikawa wrote a fictional account (''Ikite iru Heitai'' 生きている兵隊) of the atrocities suffered by Chinese civilians as well as the widespread pessimism of the Japanese soldiers. Due to its controversial ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Masajirō Kojima
was a Japanese novelist active in Shōwa period Japan. Biography Kojima was born in the plebeian Shitaya district of Tokyo to a family of clothing merchants. While attending Keio University he studied Edo period Japanese literature and the works of European authors. He was especially attracted to the works of Nagai Kafū and Mori Ōgai. His literary career began as a student, when he contributed short stories to the journal of Keio University's literature department, ''Mita Bungaku''. After graduation in 1918, he worked with children's literature, editing the literary magazine, ''Akai Tori'' ("Red Bird"), and writing tales for children. However, Kojima established himself as a mainstream author with serious, adult-orientated stories, such as ''Ichimae Kanban'', ("One Card") based on the life of a professional storyteller, and ''Ie'' ("Family"), the story of relatives who were forced out of their home. He later gained a reputation as a writer of popular fiction with such stor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kunio Kishida
Kunio Kishida (岸田 國士, Kishida Kunio, 2 November 1890 – 5 March 1954) was a Japanese playwright, dramatist, novelist, lecturer, acting coach, theatre critic, translator, and proponent of Shingeki ("New Theatre"/”New Drama"). Kishida spearheaded the modernization of Japanese dramaturgy and transformed Japanese theatre acting. He was a staunch advocate for the theatre to operate as a dual artistic and literary space. At the beginning of the Meiji era, efforts to modernize the Japanese theatre became a critical topic for Japanese playwrights, and these endeavors persisted well into the 1920s before Kishida wrote his first plays. However, his predecessors' attempts did not come to fruition, and Kishida is recognized as the first playwright to successfully reform the narrative, thematic, and performative trajectories of Japanese playwriting and acting through Shingeki. Kishida was known for his vehement opposition to traditional Japanese ''kabuki, noh'', and ''shimpa'' thea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fumiko Hayashi (author)
was a Japanese writer of novels, short stories and poetry, who is included in the feminist literature canon. Among her best-known works are ''Diary of a Vagabond'', '' Late Chrysanthemum'' and ''Floating Clouds''. Biography Hayashi was born in Moji-ku, Kitakyūshū, Japan, and raised in abject poverty. In 1910, her mother Kiku Hayashi divorced her merchant husband Mayaro Miyata (who was not Fumiko's biological father) and married Kisaburo Sawai. The family then worked as itinerant merchants in Kyūshū. After graduating from high school in 1922, Hayashi moved to Tokyo and lived with several men, supporting herself with a variety of jobs, before settling into marriage with painting student Rokubin Tezuka in 1926. During this time, she also helped launch the poetry magazine ''Futari''. Her autobiographical novel ''Diary of a Vagabond'' (''Hōrōki''), published in 1930, became a bestseller and gained her high popularity. Many of her subsequent works also showed an autobiograph ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cabinet Intelligence Bureau
The was a government organization in Japan. It was founded in 1940 at the request of Prime Minister Konoe Fumimaro. The organization's main objective was to improve pro-Japan public opinion around what was happening in World War II. Its main responsibilities included gathering information, reporting advertisements, and regulation or prohibition of publications. They distributed government propaganda both within and outside of Japan. In all, around 160 officers were employed by the organization. History In the late 1930s, the government redefined the term "citizen" as an agent who contribute to a war of their own will, but under the influence of government officials, critics, and others. The government promoted the concept of "total war". Private citizens were expected to contribute to the war. The government used mass media in order to promote patriotism and participation. The media was used to oppose enemy ideology and win ideological warfare. This was called " the theory of i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fumio Niwa
was a Japanese novelist with a long list of works, the most famous in the West being his novel ''The Buddha Tree'' (Japanese ''Bodaiju'', "The Linden", or "The Bodhi Tree", 1956). He was ordained as a Shin Buddhist priest in his youth, but abandoned the priesthood two years after his ordination. Career Niwa was born in Mie Prefecture, the eldest son of a priest in the Pure Land sect of Buddhism. He grew up at Sōgen-ji, a temple in Yokkaichi near Nagoya. After his graduation from Waseda University, he reluctantly entered the hereditary priesthood there but quit two years later, at the age of 29, in order to become a writer, walking out of the temple grounds on 10 April 1932 and heading back to Tokyo. He was supported by his girlfriend until their marriage in 1935. During this time he published ''Sweetfish'' (Japanese ''Ayu''), serialised in '' Bungeishunjū'', and the novel ''Superfluous Flesh'' (Japanese ''Zeiniku''). Niwa's work was controversial and, during World Wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nobuko Yoshiya
was a Japanese novelist active in Taishō and Shōwa period Japan. She was one of modern Japan's most commercially successful and prolific writers, specializing in serialized romance novels and adolescent girls' fiction, as well as a pioneer in Japanese lesbian literature, including the Class S genre. Several of her stories have been made into films. Personal life Yoshiya was born in Niigata prefecture, but grew up in Mooka and Tochigi cities in Tochigi prefecture. Her father was first a police officer and then became a local county government official, so her family relocated often to accommodate his transfers. She was the only daughter and youngest of five children in her family. Both her mother and her father came from samurai families. Her middle-class, culturally conservative parents trained her for the "good wife, wise mother" role expected of women in Meiji Japan. Her literary career began when she was in her teens, although prior to this she had developed a love for w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
