Hōgetsu Shimamura (, February 28, 1871 - November 5, 1918) was a Japanese

critic A critic is a person who communicates an assessment and an opinion of various forms of creative works such as Art criticism, art, Literary criticism, literature, Music journalism, music, Film criticism, cinema, Theater criticism, theater, Fas ...

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while other ...

and leader of

Shingeki was a leading form of theatre in Japan that was based on modern realism. Born in the early years of the 20th century, it sought to be similar to modern Western theatre, putting on the works of the ancient Greek classics, William Shakespeare, Moli ...

. His real name is Takitaro (滝太郎). He was born in

Shimane Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Shimane Prefecture is the List of Japanese prefectures by population, second-least populous prefecture of Japan at 665,205 (February 1, 2021) and has a ge ...

. He graduated from

Tōkyō Senmon Gakkō Waseda University (Japanese: ), abbreviated as or , is a private research university in Shinjuku, Tokyo. Founded in 1882 as the Tōkyō Professional School by Ōkuma Shigenobu, the fifth prime minister of Japan, the school was formally renamed W ...

. In 1902 he studied abroad in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. In 1906, he founded the Bungei Kyōkai ( 文芸協会) with

Tsubouchi Shoyo Tsubouchi (written: 坪内) is a Japanese surname Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Jap ...

. He presided over '' Waseda Bungaku'' ( 早稲田文学) and was active in the naturalistic literary movement. In 1913, he established the Geijutsu-za theatre troupe with

Sumako Matsui was a Japanese actress and singer. Born as Masako Kobayashi in Matsushiro, Nagano, Nagano Prefecture as the fifth daughter and last of nine children of Tohta Kobayashi, she was adopted by the Hasegawa family in Ueda at the age of six and in 1900 ...

. His main works are ''Shinbijigaku'' (新美辞学), ''Kindai Bungei no Kenkyu'' (近代文芸之研究) and so on. Shimamura was also a key figure in

Henrik Ibsen Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright, poet and actor. Ibsen is considered the world's pre-eminent dramatist of the 19th century and is often referred to as "the father of modern drama." He pioneered ...

becoming a key influence in Japanese drama and the

movement; following a three and a half year stay in Europe and having attended many performances of Ibsen plays, Shimamura returned to Japan in 1905 and declared an "Age of Ibsen" to coincide with increased interest in Ibsen plays within Japan, including Shimamura's own translation of

A Doll's House ''A Doll's House'' (Danish language, Danish and ; also translated as ''A Doll House'') is a three-act Play (theatre), play written by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. It premiered at the Royal Danish Theatre in Copenhagen, Denmark, on 21 De ...

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島村抱月
- Kotobank 1871 births 1918 deaths 20th-century Japanese dramatists and playwrights Japanese theatre directors Japanese literary critics 20th-century Japanese novelists 20th-century Japanese poets Academic staff of Waseda University Writers from Shimane Prefecture Deaths from the Spanish flu pandemic {{Japan-writer-stub