Kunikida Doppo - Kunikida Doppo

Poet and novelist. Born on July 15, 1871 in Choshi, Chiba Prefecture. His childhood name was Kamekichi, and his real name was Tetsuo. He was the son of Senhachi, a samurai of the Tatsuno domain in Banshu (Hyogo Prefecture). There is also a theory that he was his mother's stepchild. In 1876 (Meiji 9), he moved to Yamaguchi because his father worked at the Yamaguchi Court. In 1887, he dropped out of Yamaguchi Middle School and moved to Tokyo. In 1888, he enrolled in the English department of Tokyo Senmon Gakko (now Waseda University), but dropped out in 1891. In January of the same year, he was baptized by Uemura Masahisa at Ichibancho Church. In May, he returned to Yamaguchi and opened the Hano English School in Tabuse, modeled after Yoshida Shoin's Shokasonjuku. In 1892, he returned to Tokyo and was active in the Youth Literature Society. Around that time, he acquired the "Wordsworth Poems," which had a great influence on Doppo's literature. After that, he spent about a year as a teacher at Tsuruya Gakuin in Saiki, Oita Prefecture, where he deepened his contemplation of nature and human survival. In 1894, he moved to Tokyo and joined the Kokumin Shimbun. When the Sino-Japanese War broke out, he was active as a war correspondent. His correspondence addressed to his younger brother Shuji was vividly colored with his familiar writing style, and was later compiled into the "Ai Teito Tsuushin" (1908). In 1895, he met Sasaki Nobuko (the model for Arishima Takeo's novel "A Certain Woman") and, despite the objections of those around him, he married her, even abandoning his hopes of developing Hokkaido. However, Nobuko disappeared within five months, and they divorced in April 1896.

He lived in Shibuya from September of that year, and around this time he became acquainted with Turgenev and came up with the idea for "Musashino". In April 1897, he published "Dokubogin", which includes "Freedom in the Forest", in the collection of poems "Lyric Poems" co-authored with Tayama Katai, Ota Gyokumei, Matsuoka Kunio (Yanagita Kunio), Miyazaki Koshoshi, and others. His life and thoughts from 1893 to 1897 are detailed in his diary "Deceitful Records" (1908-09). He published his first novel, "Genoji" (1897). In 1898, he published romantic works such as "Musashino Now", "Wasurenu Hitobito" and "Shikagari". In 1901 (Meiji 34), he published "Musashino," a collection of these stories. During this time, he joined the Hochi Shimbun and Minsei Shimpo, but left shortly thereafter. He published works that primarily explored reality, such as "Beef and Potatoes" (1901), "Diary of a Drinker," "Banks of the Sorachi River" (1902), "Fatalist" (1903), and "Spring Birds" (1904). These were later published as "Doppo Collection" (1905) and "Fate" (1906). They were later highly praised as works of naturalism. "Fate" in particular raised Doppo's reputation in the literary world. At the end of 1902, he joined Keigyosha (later known as Kinjigahosha). He followed this up by founding Dopposha, but it went bankrupt in 1907 due to poor management. Despite being in poor health due to overwork, he produced excellent works that stared at reality, such as "Koshi" (Death in Peril) (1907) and "Take no Kido" (The Bamboo Gate) (1908). He died on June 23, 1908, at Nankoin Temple in Chigasaki.

[Reiko Nakajima]

"The Definitive Complete Works of Kunikida Doppo, 10 volumes and 1 supplementary volume (1978, Gakken)" ▽ "Kunikida Doppo in his younger days - A study of the Saeki period, by Ono Shigeki (1959, Apollonsha)" ▽ "Kunikida Doppo, by Sakamoto Hiroshi (1969, Yuseido Publishing)" ▽ "Kunikida Doppo - A study of the Yamaguchi period, by Kuwahara Shinichi (1972, Kasama Shoin)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

詩人、小説家。明治4年7月15日、千葉県銚子(ちょうし)生まれ。幼名亀吉(かめきち)、本名哲夫(てつお)。播州(ばんしゅう)（兵庫県）龍野(たつの)藩士専八の子。母まんの連れ子説もある。1876年（明治9）、父の山口裁判所勤務のため山口に移住。1887年、山口中学校を退学し上京。1888年、東京専門学校（現早稲田(わせだ)大学）英語普通科に入学したが、1891年退学。同年1月、一番町教会において植村正久(まさひさ)により受洗。5月、山口に帰り、吉田松陰(しょういん)の松下村塾(しょうかそんじゅく)に倣い、田布施に波野(はの)英学塾を開いた。1892年ふたたび上京し、青年文学会で活躍。そのころ、独歩文学に大きな影響のあった『ワーズワース詩集』を入手している。その後、大分県佐伯(さいき)の鶴谷(つるや)学館の教師として約1年過ごし、自然と人間生存との思索を深めた。1894年、上京し国民新聞社入社。日清(にっしん)戦争起こり、従軍記者として活躍。弟収二にあてた形式の通信文は親しみのこもった筆致で生彩を放ち、のち『愛弟通信』（1908）にまとめられた。1895年、佐々城信子(ささきのぶこ)（有島武郎(たけお)の小説『或(あ)る女』のモデル）と知り合い、周囲の反対を押し切り、北海道開拓の希望も捨てて結婚するが、5か月で信子は失踪(しっそう)し、1896年4月離婚した。

　その年の9月から渋谷に住み、このころツルゲーネフに親しみ、『武蔵野(むさしの)』を構想する。1897年4月、田山花袋(かたい)、太田玉茗(ぎょくめい)、松岡国男(くにお)（柳田国男(やなぎたくにお)）、宮崎湖処子(こしょし)らとの共著詩集『抒情詩(じょじょうし)』に、「山林に自由存す」を含む『独歩吟』を発表。なお、1893年から1897年にかけての生活と思索は、日記『欺(あざむ)かざるの記』（1908～09）に詳しい。処女小説『源叔父(げんおじ)』（1897）を発表。1898年『今の武蔵野』『忘れえぬ人々』『鹿(しか)狩』など浪漫(ろうまん)的な作品を発表。1901年（明治34）これらを収めた『武蔵野』を出版する。この間、報知新聞や民声新報に入社するが、ほどなく退社。『牛肉と馬鈴薯(じゃがいも)』（1901）、『酒中日記』『空知川(そらちがわ)の岸辺』（1902）、『運命論者』（1903）、『春の鳥』（1904）など、主として現実性を追究しようとする作品を発表。これらは『独歩集』（1905）、『運命』（1906）として刊行。のちに、自然主義の作品として高く評価された。とくに『運命』は独歩の文壇的声価を高めた。1902年末、敬業社（のち近事画報社）に入社。この後を受けて独歩社をおこすが、経営悪化で1907年に破産。過労のため健康も優れぬなかで、『窮死』（1907）、『竹の木戸』（1908）などの現実を凝視した佳作を発表。明治41年6月23日、茅ヶ崎(ちがさき)の南湖院で死去。

［中島礼子］

『『定本　国木田独歩全集』10巻・別巻1（1978・学習研究社）』▽『小野茂樹著『若き日の国木田独歩――佐伯時代の研究』（1959・アポロン社）』▽『坂本浩著『国木田独歩』（1969・有精堂出版）』▽『桑原伸一著『国木田独歩――山口時代の研究』（1972・笠間書院）』

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