The were a group of dissolute writers who expressed the aimlessness and identity crisis of post-

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. While not comprising a true literary school, the Buraiha writers were linked together by a similar approach to the subject matter and literary style. The main characters in works of the Buraiha feature

anti-hero An antihero (sometimes spelled as anti-hero or two words anti hero) or anti-heroine is a character in a narrative (in literature, film, TV, etc.) who may lack some conventional heroic qualities and attributes, such as idealism and morality. Al ...

es that are dissolute and aimless. Their work was based on criticism of the complete body of pre-war

Japanese literature Japanese literature throughout most of its history has been influenced by cultural contact with neighboring Asian literatures, most notably China and its literature. Early texts were often written in pure Classical Chinese or , a Chinese-Japa ...

as well as American social values that were introduced into Japanese society with the occupation. Their work did not appeal to any one particular group, and their range was not well defined.

Writers

The term mainly applied to Ango Sakaguchi,

Osamu Dazai , known by his pen name , was a Japanese novelist and author. A number of his most popular works, such as ''The Setting Sun'' (斜陽, ''Shayō'') and '' No Longer Human'' (人間失格, ''Ningen Shikkaku''), are considered modern classics. Hi ...

and

Sakunosuke Oda was a Japanese writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles, genres and techniques to communicate ideas, to inspire feelings and emotions, or to entertain. Writers may develop different forms of writing ...

, however, it also often referred to others, such as

Jun Ishikawa Kiyoshi Ishikawa (石川淳, ''Ishikawa Kiyoshi''; 7 March 1899 – 29 December 1987), known by his pen name Jun Ishikawa (written in the same ''kanji''), was a Japanese modernist author, translator and literary critic active during the Shōwa ...

, Sei Itō,

Jun Takami was the pen-name of a Japanese novelist and poet active in Shōwa era Japan. His real name was Takami Yoshio. Early life Takami was born in Mikuni, Fukui (part of the present-day city of Sakai),Tanaka Hidemitsu and Kazuo Dan. Further, according to

Takeo Okuno , was a Japanese chemist and a leading literary critic of the Postwar Japan, postwar era. A close friend of philosopher Takaaki Yoshimoto and writer Yukio Mishima, he helped draw attention to a new generation of postwar Japanese authors and push ...

, the group also included

Miyoshi Jūrō Miyoshi may refer to: Places *Miyoshi, Aichi, a city in Aichi Prefecture *Miyoshi, Chiba, a former village in Chiba Prefecture *Miyoshi, Hiroshima, a city in Hiroshima Prefecture *Miyoshi, Saitama, a town in Saitama Prefecture *Miyoshi, Tokushima, ...

and Taiko Hirabayashi.

Lifestyle

Buraiha writers are sometimes referred to as the "

decadent Decadence was a late-19th-century movement emphasizing the need for sensationalism, egocentricity, and bizarre, artificial, perverse, and exotic sensations and experiences. By extension, it may refer to a decline in art, literature, science, ...

s" in the west because of the decadent lifestyle they lead, spending time in bars, using narcotics, and having frequent sexual relationships. A prime example of this is Ango Sakaguchi, who shocked the Japanese public by his publication of an essay entitled . This, according to one critic, "allowed the Japanese people, especially the youth of Japan, to redeem its sense of self and begin life in the postwar period."

Term

The term "burai", which was bestowed on the group by conservative critics, literally meaning undependable, refers to someone whose behavior goes against traditional social conventions. Because of the subversive nature of their works, they were initially referred to as the after an

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 ...

-era literary movement, but the terms was replaced as less irreverent works became popular.

References

{{Reflist

Writers

Lifestyle

Term

References

Further reading