was a

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 ...

author In legal discourse, an author is the creator of an original work that has been published, whether that work exists in written, graphic, visual, or recorded form. The act of creating such a work is referred to as authorship. Therefore, a sculpt ...

and

literary critic A genre of arts criticism, literary criticism or literary studies is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical analysis of literature' ...

Biography

Maruya, whose real name was Saiichi Nemura, was born in Tsuruoka city,

Yamagata Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. It has a population of 1,005,926 (1 February 2025) and an area of 9,325 Square kilometre, km2 (3,600 Square mile, sq mi). Its neighbours are Akita Prefectu ...

on August 27, 1925. His father was a doctor, and apparently wealthy enough to have a big personal library, which whetted Maruya's literary appetite. Maruya was mobilized into the Japanese Army in March 1945 when still a high school student, but did not see battlefield action as Japan surrendered shortly thereafter. Following the war's end, he completed his high school studies in Niigata, then in 1947 entered the

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

to major in English literature, although he also studied classical Japanese literature. To develop his own writing style he began translating English works. He translated Joyce's ''Ulysses'' in collaboration with Takamatsu Yūichi and Nagai Reiji (1964) and ''

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man ''A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man'' is the second book and first novel of Irish writer James Joyce, published in 1916. A ''Künstlerroman'' written in a modernist style, it traces the religious and intellectual awakening of young Ste ...

'' in 1969.

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (born James Augusta Joyce; 2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influentia ...

's works became a major influence on his writing. After completing his degree, he taught English literature at

Kokugakuin University Kokugakuin University , abbreviated as ''Kokugakudai'' () or ''Kokudai'' (), is a Shinto-affiliated private research university in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan. The university consists of undergraduate departments in humanities and social sciences and ...

and then at the

. During this time, he wrote several novels, including ''Ehoba no kao o sakete'' (エホバの顔をさけて, 1958), ''Kanata e'' (彼方へ, 1962), and ''Sasamakura'' (笹まくら, Grass for My Pillow, 1966). Maruya was also an influential literary critic, publishing reviews in the magazine '' Shukan Asahi'' and in the ''

Mainichi Shimbun The is one of the major newspapers in Japan, published by In addition to the ''Mainichi Shimbun'', which is printed twice a day in several local editions, Mainichi also operates an English-language news website called , and publishes a bilin ...

''. Maruya said that improving the quality of book reviews in Japan was one of the things he was most proud of. His criticism and essays include ''Go-Toba In'' (後鳥羽院, The Retired Emperor Go-Toba, 1973), ''Nihon bungakushi hayawakari'' (日本文学史早わかり, A Quick Guide to the History of Japanese Literature, 1976), ''Asobi jikan'' (遊び時間, Play Time, 1976) and ''Chūshingura to wa nani ka'' (忠臣蔵とは何か, What is the

Chūshingura is the title given to fictionalized accounts in Japanese literature, theater, and film that relate to the historical incident involving the forty-seven ''rōnin'' and their mission to avenge the death of their master, Asano Naganori. Including ...

?, 1984). Maruya died of heart failure on October 13, 2012. Mitsuhiro Yanagida Isamu Akasaki Saiichi Nemura Toshiro Nara and Taichiro Mitani 20111103

Mitsuhiro Yanagida Isamu Akasaki Saiichi Nemura Toshiro Nara and Taichiro Mitani 20111103

Awards

In 1968 Maruya won the

Akutagawa Prize The is a Japanese literary award presented biannually. Because of its prestige and the considerable attention the winner receives from the media, it is, along with the Naoki Prize, one of Japan's most sought after literary prizes. History Th ...

for ''Toshi no nokori'' (年の残り, The Rest of the Year). In 1972 he published ''Tatta hitori no hanran'' (たったひとりの反乱, Singular Rebellion), for which he won the

Tanizaki Prize The Tanizaki Prize (谷崎潤一郎賞 ''Tanizaki Jun'ichirō Shō''), named in honor of the Japanese novelist Jun'ichirō Tanizaki, is one of Japan's most sought-after literary awards. It was established in 1965 by the publishing company Chūō K� ...

. He also received the Kawabata Prize, the

Kikuchi Kan Prize The honors achievement in all aspects of Japanese literary culture. It was named in honor of Kikuchi Kan. The prize is presented annually by the literary magazine '' Bungei Shunjū'' and the Society for the Promotion of Japanese Literature. Histo ...

for Cultural Merit and the

Noma Literary Prize The Noma Literary Prize (''Noma Bungei Shō'') was established in 1941 by the Noma Service Association (''Noma Hōkō Kai'') in accordance with the last wishes of Seiji Noma (1878–1938), founder and first president of the Kodansha publishing c ...

(1985), and 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 ...

, awarded in 2011 by the Emperor of Japan.

Selected works in translation

* * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maruya, Saiichi 1925 births 20th-century Japanese novelists 21st-century Japanese novelists University of Tokyo alumni 2012 deaths Akutagawa Prize winners Recipients of the Order of Culture 20th-century Japanese translators 20th-century Japanese essayists 21st-century Japanese essayists Writers from Yamagata Prefecture Academic staff of the University of Tokyo People from Tsuruoka