was the

pen-name A pen name or nom-de-plume 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 name may be used to make the author's na ...

of a popular

Japanese 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 Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

writer in

Shōwa period Shōwa most commonly refers to: * Hirohito (1901–1989), the 124th Emperor of Japan, known posthumously as Emperor Shōwa ** Shōwa era (昭和), the era of Hirohito from 1926 to 1989 * Showa Corporation, a Japanese suspension and shock manufactu ...

Japan, known primarily for his

historical fiction Historical fiction is a literary genre in which a fictional plot takes place in the Setting (narrative), setting of particular real past events, historical events. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literatur ...

novels, which appeared serialized in newspapers and magazines. His real name was .

Early life

Osaragi Jirō was born in

Yokohama is the List of cities in Japan, second-largest city in Japan by population as well as by area, and the country's most populous Municipalities of Japan, municipality. It is the capital and most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a popu ...

. His father was a temple carpenter originally from

Kii Province , or , was a province of Japan in the part of Honshū that is today Wakayama Prefecture, as well as the southern part of Mie Prefecture. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Kii''" in . Kii bordered Ise, Izumi, Kawachi, Shima, and Yamato Pro ...

, who had rebuilt the main halls and main gates of a number of noted Buddhist temples. His older brother Hōei Nojiri, was a noted scholar of

English literature English literature is literature written in the English language from the English-speaking world. The English language has developed over more than 1,400 years. The earliest forms of English, a set of Anglo-Frisian languages, Anglo-Frisian d ...

and an

astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. Astronomers observe astronomical objects, such as stars, planets, natural satellite, moons, comets and galaxy, galax ...

. He graduated with honors from Shirogane Jinjo Elementary School, and later wrote in his memoirs that he first became interested in becoming a writer in the sixth grade, where the daughter of Kosugi Tengai was a classmate. He then attended the Furitsu Daiichi Junior High School. While still in high school, he published his first work, ''Ichiko Romance'', which described life in the school dormitory. He also became interested in the theatre. Osaragi attended

Tokyo Imperial University The University of Tokyo (, abbreviated as in Japanese and UTokyo in English) is a public university, public research university in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1877 as the nation's first modern university by the merger of several Edo peri ...

’s Department of Political Science, where he developed a strong sense of resistance to

authoritarianism Authoritarianism is a political system characterized by the rejection of political plurality, the use of strong central power to preserve the political ''status quo'', and reductions in democracy, separation of powers, civil liberties, and ...

. After graduation, he obtained a posting as a teacher at the Kamakura Higher Girls' School (present-day Kamakura Jogakuin High School), located in

Kamakura , officially , is a city of Kanagawa Prefecture in Japan. It is located in the Kanto region on the island of Honshu. The city has an estimated population of 172,929 (1 September 2020) and a population density of 4,359 people per km2 over the tota ...

Kanagawa prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Kanagawa Prefecture is the List of Japanese prefectures by population, second-most populous prefecture of Japan at 9,221,129 (1 April 2022) and third-dens ...

. Because of his language skills, he was recruited by the

Foreign Ministry In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral re ...

in 1922, and worked for about a year in the Treaties Bureau. However after the Great Kantō earthquake of 1923, he decided to devote himself full time to writing.

Literary career

In 1924 Osaragi Jirō published his first popular

historical novel Historical fiction is a literary genre in which a fictional plot takes place in the setting of particular real historical events. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literature, it can also be applied to oth ...

, ''Hayabusa no Genji'' which was serialized in the magazine, ''Pocket''. At this time he was living in Kamakura behind the famous . The ''

kanji are logographic Chinese characters, adapted from Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script, used in the writing of Japanese language, Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are ...

'' for ''Daibutsu'' can also be read ''Osaragi'' which became the source of his pen-name, ''Osaragi Jirō''. However, his choice of pen name of ''Osaragi'' was not mere whimsy: The Osaragi branch of the

Hōjō clan The was a Japanese samurai family who controlled the hereditary title of '' shikken'' (regent) of the Kamakura shogunate between 1203 and 1333. Despite the title, in practice the family wielded actual political power in Japan during this perio ...

descended from

Hōjō Tokifusa was a member of Japan's Hōjō clan of nobles and courtiers; the brother of Hōjō Yoshitoki, shogunal regent, Tokifusa was appointed to the Kyoto-based government post of ''Rokuhara Tandai'' upon its creation in 1221, following the Jōkyū Wa ...

, were prominent warriors mentioned in the

Kamakura period The is a period of History of Japan, Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura, Kanagawa, Kamakura by the first ''shōgun'' Minamoto no Yoritomo after the conclusion of the G ...

chronicle ''

Taiheiki The (Chronicle of Great Peace) is a medieval Japanese historical epic (see '' gunki monogatari'') written in the late 14th century and covers the period from 1319 to 1367. It deals primarily with the Nanboku-chō, the period of war between the ...

.'' Their estates were located near the Great Buddha. Osaragi's popular fiction novels with historical settings such as '' Kurama Tengu'' (1924–1959), ''Teru Hi Kumoru Hi'' ("Sunny Days Cloudy Days", 1926–1927), and ''Ako Roshi'' ("Loyal Retainers of Ako", 1927–1928), were serialized in newspapers and magazines, and gained him a tremendous following. Many were later made into movies and

television series A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming plat ...

, with Kanjūrō Arashi, for instance, making a name for himself playing Kurama Tengu. However, Osaragi also wrote works of contemporary fiction such as ''Shiroi Ane'' ("White Sister") and ''Kiribue'' ("Misty Flute"). ''Kikyō'' ("Homecoming", 1948) described the author's anger at petty attitudes which surfaced after

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 ...

, and was awarded the Japan Art Academy Prize in 1950. Osaragi also won the

Asahi Prize The , established in 1929, is an award presented by the Japanese newspaper ''Asahi Shimbun'' and Asahi Shimbun Foundation to honor individuals and groups that have made outstanding accomplishments in the fields of arts and academics and have greatl ...

in 1952. In 1964, he was awarded the

Order of Culture The is a Japanese Order (decoration), order, established on February 11, 1937. The order has one class only, and may be awarded to men and women for contributions to Japanese Art, Japan's art, Japanese Literature, literature, science, technolog ...

by the Japanese government. Osaragi was deeply influenced by

French literature French literature () generally speaking, is literature written in the French language, particularly by French people, French citizens; it may also refer to literature written by people living in France who speak traditional languages of Franc ...

and culture, and wrote a number non-fiction pieces displaying his deep understanding of controversial events in Europe: ''Dorefyus jiken'' ("The Dreyfus Affair"), ''Buranje Shogun no Higeki'' ("The Tragedy of General Boulanger"), and ''Pari Moyu'' ("Paris is Burning"; a history of the

Paris Commune The Paris Commune (, ) was a French revolutionary government that seized power in Paris on 18 March 1871 and controlled parts of the city until 28 May 1871. During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, the French National Guard (France), Nation ...

). When he died in 1973 at the age of 75, he was still writing ''Tennō no Seiki'' ("Century of Emperors"), a historical chronicle based on the spiritual history of the Japanese people.

Private life

Osaragi lived in

from 1921 to his death in 1973. Osaragi was a central figure in Kamakura's literary life, and he also campaigned avidly for the protection of Kamakura's scenic beauty. When housing developers threatened the mountainside behind Kamakura's famous Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū, he banded together with a number of famous writers and artists (including

Hideo Kobayashi was a Japanese author, who established literary criticism as an independent art form in Japan. Early life Kobayashi was born in the Kanda district of Tokyo, where his father was a noted engineer who introduced European diamond polishing tech ...

, Nagai Tatsuo,

Yasunari Kawabata was a Japanese novelist and short story writer whose spare, lyrical, subtly-shaded prose works won him the 1968 Nobel Prize in Literature, the first Japanese author to receive the award. His works have enjoyed broad international appeal and ...

, Riichi Yokomitsu, Itō Shinsui, Kiyokata Kaburagi), residing in Kamakura to oppose the development. This led to the foundation of the Japan National Trust, modeled after the

National Trust The National Trust () is a heritage and nature conservation charity and membership organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Trust was founded in 1895 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley to "promote the ...

in Great Britain, and which has been successful in preserving the historical ambience of Kamakura and parts of other cities around Japan. Osaragi Jirō was a noted cat lover. Friends and neighbors claimed that he fed at least 500 semi-feral cats at his house in Kamakura. Osaragi also served for two months in the cabinet of

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Prince Higashikuni Naruhiko as a councillor. Osaragi died of

liver cancer Liver cancer, also known as hepatic cancer, primary hepatic cancer, or primary hepatic malignancy, is cancer that starts in the liver. Liver cancer can be primary in which the cancer starts in the liver, or it can be liver metastasis, or secondar ...

in 1973 at the age of 75. His grave is at the temple of

Jufuku-ji , usually known as Jufuku-ji, is a temple of the Kenchō-ji branch of the Rinzai sect and the oldest Zen temple in Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. Ranked third among Kamakura's prestigious Five Mountains, it is number 24 among the pilgrimag ...

in Kamakura. Despite Osaragi's long association with Kamakura, due to a dispute over

inheritance tax International tax law distinguishes between an estate tax and an inheritance tax. An inheritance tax is a tax paid by a person who inherits money or property of a person who has died, whereas an estate tax is a levy on the estate (money and pro ...

es, his manuscripts and artifacts were donated to the city of Yokohama by his heirs, where they now form the collection of the Osaragi Jirō Commemorative Museum. His former house in Kamakura remains in private hands, and is open (occasionally) to the public. After his death, the ''

Asahi Shimbun is a Japanese daily newspaper founded in 1879. It is one of the oldest newspapers in Japan and Asia, and is considered a newspaper of record for Japan. The ''Asahi Shimbun'' is one of the five largest newspapers in Japan along with the ''Yom ...

'' established a

literary prize A literary award or literary prize is an award presented in recognition of a particularly lauded literary piece or body of work. It is normally presented to an author. Organizations Most literary awards come with a corresponding award ceremony. Man ...

, the Osaragi Jiro Prize, which is awarded for the best book published in Japan in the field of social sciences.

Selected filmography

* '' Kurama Tengu'' (鞍馬天狗) (1928) - novel for the film * '' Akō Rōshi'' (赤穂浪士 Akō Rōshi) (1961) - novel for the film * '' Hangyakuji'' (反逆児) (1961) - novel for the film * '' Kojiki Taishō'' (1952) and (1964) - novel for the film

Reading

* Miyaji, Sachiro. ''Osaragi Jiro shisho: Sei to shi o mitsumete''. Nihon Bungeisha (1996). (Japanese) * Osaragi, Jiro. (tr.

Ivan Morris Ivan Ira Esme Morris (29 November 1925 – 19 July 1976) was an English writer, translator and editor in the field of Japanese studies. Biography Ivan Morris was born in London, of mixed American and Swedish parentage to Edita Morris () and Ira ...

). ''The Journey''. Tuttle Publishing (2000). * Osaragi, Jiro. (tr. Brewster Horwitz). ''Homecoming''. Tuttle Publishing (1955). ASIN: B000GUA9S2

References

External links

Osaragi Jirō Memorial Museum

Osaragi Jirō's former home in Kamakura (Japanese site)

Prominent People of Minato City
*
J'Lit , Authors : Jiro Osaragi , Books from Japan
{{DEFAULTSORT:Osaragi, Jiro 1897 births 1973 deaths Writers from Yokohama 20th-century Japanese novelists University of Tokyo alumni Recipients of the Order of Culture Deaths from liver cancer in Japan 20th-century Japanese screenwriters