The A to Z of Modern Japanese Literature and Theater by Scott J. Miller

Author:Scott J. Miller
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Scarecrow Press
Published: 2009-03-14T16:00:00+00:00

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NAGAI KAFÛ (1879–1959). Nagai Kafû, given name Sôkichi, was the half-brother of Takami Jun. He attended a foreign-language college studying Chinese but dropped out to pursue the writing career he had begun to develop while studying with Hirotsu Ryûrô. Nagai is best known for his depiction of early 20th-century Tokyo entertainment districts. His works include Amerika monogatari (1908; tr. American Stories, 1999) and Ude kurabe (1916–17; tr. Geisha in Rivalry, 1963). See also MODERN THEATER; NATURALISM; SATÔ HARUO; THEATER REFORM.

NAGASAKI. Prior to the Tokugawa period, Nagasaki, a port city on the extreme western coast of Kyushu, became a center of European trade owing to the conversion of its feudal lord to the newly introduced Christianity. After Christianity and the Portuguese were banished by the Tokugawa family, the Dutch East India Company was allowed a small trading space in Nagasaki. As Dutch books filtered into Japan, Nagasaki became a center of rangaku (Dutch learning) studies, and many of the translators and diplomats of the Meiji period learned their skills through materials imported by way of Nagasaki. The town has historically been associated with Christianity, adding a tragic irony to its site as a nuclear bomb target during World War II. Both Nagasaki’s Christian and atomic bomb victim conflicts appear often in works by such Japanese writers as Endô Shûsaku, Hayashi Kyôko (1930–), and Sata Ineko. See also HIROTSU RYÛRÔ; ISHIGURO KAZUO; ITÔ SHIZUO; KAKURE KIRISHITAN; MURAKAMI RYÛ.

NAGATSUKA TAKASHI (1879–1915). Nagatsuka Takashi was a poet from Ibaraki Prefecture. At the age of 19 he became interested in Masaoka Shiki’s lyrical portrayal of nature, and two years later helped Masaoka launch the poetry journal Araragi (The Yew). Nagatsuka is mainly known for his writing of tanka, and his 1914 collection Hari no gotoku (Like a Needle) is his most noteworthy lyrical publication. Nagatsuka also wrote novels, most notably Tsuchi (1910; tr. The Soil, 1981), a depiction of agrarian poverty written in dialect, which was serialized in the Asahi newspaper. He died of tuberculosis at the young age of 37. See also GENBUN ITCHI.

NAGAYO YOSHIRÔ (1888–1961). Nagayo Yoshirô was a novelist, literary critic, and playwright. In college, he became acquainted with Shiga Naoya and Mushanokôji Saneatsu and joined them in publishing the literary journal Shirakaba (White Birch). Following the 1923 Kantô Earthquake, he and Mushanokôji jointly published Fuji (Unique), a new literary magazine. In it, Nagayo’s criticism argued against the proletarian literature movement. Some of Nagayo’s notable works include the play Indara no ko (Child of Indra, 1921), the historical novel Takezawa sensei to iu hito (Mr. Takezawa, 1924–25), and the screenplay for the film Seidô no Kirisuto (1956; tr. The Bronze Christ, 1959). See also MODERN THEATER.

NAKA KANSUKE (1885–1965). Naka Kansuke was an author and poet from Tokyo. He studied Japanese literature at Tokyo University under Natsume Sôseki, who recommended that Naka publish his memoir-like novel Gin no saji (1913–14; tr. The Silver Spoon, 1956) in the Asahi newspaper. He distanced himself from the politics of the bundan (writers’ guilds), and was known for keeping aloof from literary cliques or factions.

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