Zenzo Kasai

Novelist. Born on January 16, 1887, in Hirosaki-cho, Nakatsugaru-gun, Aomori Prefecture (now Hirosaki City). His other pen names were Utasutsu and Suirishu. After a wandering life in Hokkaido, he moved to Tokyo. He dropped out of Tetsugakukan (now Toyo University). He studied under Tokuda Shusei, and was introduced to Soma Gyofu, which led to him becoming an auditing student at the English department of Waseda University, where he became acquainted with Mitsumochi Kiyoshi and other members of the later Kiseki magazine. He published his debut work, Sad Father, in the first issue (September 1912), and, despite poverty and family separations, he wrote With Child (1918), making a name for himself in the literary world. Kasai believed that art was "life, religion, food for the soul, and absolute authority" (letter to Funaki Shigeo), and he quickly left all ties with his friends in order to assert his strong ego in his writing. At the same time, however, this meant living out his fate as a writer of destructive autobiographical novels, a vicious cycle of self-deprecation and egoism. His works, such as "Fuge," "Horse Manure," "The Impotent," and "The Foolish Writer and the Trumpet," were mainly based on his personal experiences, but his style, which never lost its eloquent flavor, combined with his excellent and accurate descriptive abilities, gave rise to the nickname "Waseda Shiga." As a prolific writer, he gradually deepened his sense of defeat due to the poverty he faced and the alcohol he used to soothe his illness, but his anti-worldly strictness, which did not fear destruction, was also called "literature with a harsh flavor." On July 23, 1928, he literally died in poverty in a slum, but he recorded his demise in masterpieces such as Shii no Wakaba (Young Leaves of the Chestnut Tree) and Lakeside Notes (both 1924). Though he relied on dictation, his accuracy in objectification and rich poetic sentiment remained undiminished, and he came to leave a very unique mark on the history of Taisho-period literature alongside Shiga Naoya and Akutagawa Ryunosuke.

[Takashi Enomoto]

"The Complete Works of Kasai Zenzo, 3 volumes and 1 supplementary volume (1974-75, Tsugaru Shobo)" ▽ "A Study of Kasai Zenzo, by Omori Sumio (1970, Ohfusha)" ▽ "Kasai Zenzo and Hirotsu Kazuo, by Tanizaki Seiji (1972, Shunjusha)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

小説家。明治20年1月16日、青森県中津軽郡弘前(ひろさき)町（現弘前市）に生まれる。歌棄(うたすつ)、酔狸州(すいりしゅう)の別号がある。北海道での放浪生活ののち上京。哲学館（現東洋大学）中退。徳田秋声に師事し、相馬御風(ぎょふう)を紹介されたのが縁で早稲田(わせだ)大学英文科の聴講生となり、光用穆(みつもちきよし)ら後の『奇蹟(きせき)』同人と相識(し)る。その創刊号（1912.9）に処女作『哀(かな)しき父』を発表、貧窮と一家離合を重ねるなかで『子をつれて』（1918）を書き、文壇に名をなす。芸術こそが「生活であり、宗教であり、心の糧(かて)であり、絶対の権威である」（舟木重雄あて書簡）とする葛西は、早く友親を絶して文芸のなかに強烈な自我の主張を志すのだが、同時にそれは、自虐とエゴイズムの悪循環による破滅型私小説作家としての宿命を生きることであった。『遁走(とんそう)』『馬糞石(ばふんせき)』『不能者』『愚作家と喇叭(らっぱ)』など、主として身辺に取材したものだが、一方に飄逸(ひょういつ)な味わいを失わぬ作風は、優れて的確な描写力と相まって「早稲田志賀」の呼称を生んだ。寡作家であったための貧と病苦を紛らす酒とによってしだいに敗滅の相を深めてゆくが、滅びることを恐れぬ反俗の厳しさのゆえに、「苛烈(かれつ)味の文学」ともいわれた。昭和3年7月23日、文字どおり陋巷(ろうこう)に窮死することになるが、その滅びゆく姿を彼は『椎(しい)の若葉』『湖畔手記』（ともに1924）などの名編に書き残している。口述筆記に頼りながらも、その対象化の確かさと豊かな詩情とは衰えず、志賀直哉(なおや)や芥川龍之介(あくたがわりゅうのすけ)と並んで、大正期文学史にきわめてユニークな個性を刻むことになった。

［榎本隆司］

『『葛西善蔵全集』3巻・別巻1（1974～75・津軽書房）』▽『大森澄雄著『葛西善蔵の研究』（1970・桜楓社）』▽『谷崎精二著『葛西善蔵と広津和郎』（1972・春秋社）』

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