was the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...

of , 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 and

Esperantist An Esperantist () is a person who speaks, reads or writes Esperanto. According to the Declaration of Boulogne, a document agreed upon at the first World Esperanto Congress in 1905, an Esperantist is someone who speaks Esperanto and uses it for ...

. He is best known for his plays, books, and short stories for children.

Biography

Born in Kuroishi,

Aomori Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan in the Tōhoku region. The prefecture's capital, largest city, and namesake is the city of Aomori (city), Aomori. Aomori is the northernmost prefecture on Japan's main island, Honshu, and is border ...

, he studied

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 ...

Waseda University Waseda University (Japanese: ), abbreviated as or , is a private university, private research university in Shinjuku, Tokyo. Founded in 1882 as the Tōkyō Professional School by Ōkuma Shigenobu, the fifth Prime Minister of Japan, prime ministe ...

and became interested in

socialism Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

. In 1913 he learnt Esperanto from

Vasili Eroshenko Vasili Yakovlevich Eroshenko ( ) (12 January 1890 – 23 December 1952) was a blind writer, translator, esperantist, linguist, traveler, poet and teacher. He wrote in Esperanto and Japanese. Early life At the age of four, he contracted meas ...

, as a result of a chance meeting, and soon became a leader of the proletarian Esperanto movement, and a member of the "La Semanto" group in 1921. He visited the

USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

in 1927 for the celebrations of the tenth anniversary of the

revolution In political science, a revolution (, 'a turn around') is a rapid, fundamental transformation of a society's class, state, ethnic or religious structures. According to sociologist Jack Goldstone, all revolutions contain "a common set of elements ...

. In January 1931 he helped found the national organization, '' Japana Prolet-Esperantista Unio'' (JPEU), with about 150 members, and with Akita as president. He translated Eroshenko's writings into Japanese, and wrote a textbook on Esperanto. The rise of militarism in Japan led to difficulties for Akita; in the autumn of 1933 he was detained for several weeks, and forced to write a long statement about his activities. Nevertheless, he continued to work, founding a magazine the next year, '' Teatoro'' (named after the Esperanto word for theatre), which still exists. He joined the New Cooperative Theatre (''Shinkyō Gekidan'') but its activities were limited because it was no longer safe to stage plays with political themes. The JPEU was shut down by the police. After the war he established a performing arts school and was active in other organizations, such as the New Japan Literary Society (''Shin Nihon Bungakukai'') and established the Japan Militant Atheists' Alliance (''Nihon Sentokteki Mushinronsha Domei'').''A Blueprint for Buddhist Revolution: The Radical Buddhism of Seno'o Giro (1889-1961) and the Youth League for Revitalizing Buddhism'' By James Mark Shields. Japanese Journal of Religious Studies, 2012. Page 339. He died in 1962. A museum in his hometown was opened in 1979.

Selected works

In Japanese

*''Higashi no Kodomo'' ("Children in the East", anthology, 1921) *''Taiyô to Hanazono'' ("The Sun and the Flower Garden", anthology, 1921) *''Mohan Esuperanto-Dokusyu: Memlernanto de Esperanto'' ("Esperanto by Self-Study", with Osaka Kenji, textbook, 1927) *''Ujaku jiden'' ("Autobiography", 1953)

Translated into Esperanto

*''Tri dramoj'' ("Three plays" translated in 1927 by Haĵime Ŝuzui, Kaname Susuki) ** ''Fonto de sudroj'' ("

Shudra Shudra or ''Shoodra'' (Sanskrit: ') is one of the four varnas of the Hindu class and social system in ancient India. Some sources translate it into English as a caste, or as a social class. Theoretically, Shudras constituted a class like work ...

s' Fountain") ** ''Danco de skeletoj'' ("Skeleton Dance") ** ''Nokto ĉe landolimoj.'' ("Night at the Frontiers") *''Tiuj, kiuj ĉirkaŭas la ĉerkon'' ("Those who gather round the coffin" translated c. 1925 by Junko Sibata)

Biography

Selected works

In Japanese

Translated into Esperanto

Notes

External links