was a Japanese children's literary magazine published between 1918 and 1936 in Tokyo, Japan. The magazine has a significant role in establishing dowa and '' doyo'', which refer to new versions of children's fiction, poetry, and songs. In addition, it was pioneer of

literary movement Literary movements are a way to divide literature into categories of similar philosophical, topical, or aesthetic features, as opposed to divisions by genre or period. Like other categorizations, literary movements provide language for comparing ...

s, doshinshugi and jidō bungaku (juvenile literature).

History and profile

''Akai tori'' was founded in 1918, and the first issue was published on 1 July of that year. The founder was

Miekichi Suzuki was a Japanese novelist and author of children's stories from Hiroshima. Biography Suzuki was born in Hiroshima. He studied English literature at Tokyo Imperial University (now the University of Tokyo), and later launched a children's literatur ...

, who also published and edited it until 1936. Later Nakayama Taichi acquired the publishing company of the magazine. ''Akai tori'' was headquartered in

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 ...

. Its sister publication was '' Josei'', a women's magazine published between 1922 and 1928. ''Akai tori'' published stories by Ryunosuke Akutagawa, including ''Spider's Thread'' and ''Tu Tze-Chun''. Stories written by Niimi Nankichi were also published in the magazine. Miekichi Suzuki published his stories in ''Akai tori'', too. Suzuki's stories were in sharp in contrast to the dominant stories of the day in that his stories featured innocent and introspective children unlike heroic young children commonly covered in popular stories targeting children. In addition, Suzuki translated

Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by the pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, and essayist. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has produced," with William Fau ...

's ''

The Prince and the Pauper ''The Prince and the Pauper'' is a novel by American author Mark Twain. It was first published in 1881 in Canada, before its 1882 publication in the United States. The novel represents Twain's first attempt at historical fiction. The plot conce ...

'' into Japanese and published it in ''Akai tori'' in 1925. The magazine also included children's songs such as those written by poet Hakushu Kitahara. School children sent their work to the magazine, and Miekichi Suzuki reviewed them and attempted to instruct children how to write essays. From 1929 to 1931 ''Akai tori'' temporarily ceased publication and permanently folded in 1936.

Legacy

The Japan Nursery Rhyme Association named the date of magazine's first issue (1 July) as the Nursery Rhyme Day in Japan. The magazine was studied by different scholars, including Britta Woldering and Elizabeth M. Keith.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Akai tori 1918 establishments in Japan 1936 disestablishments in Japan Children's magazines published in Japan Defunct literary magazines published in Japan Defunct magazines published in Tokyo Defunct poetry magazines Defunct children's magazines Magazines established in 1918 Magazines disestablished in 1936