Kurata Hyakuzo

Playwright and critic. Born in Hiroshima Prefecture on February 23, 1891. He enrolled in the former First High School in 1910 (Meiji 43), but dropped out due to tuberculosis. He later developed caries and spent much of his life fighting the disease. He was devoted to Kitaro Nishida's "A Study of Good" and experienced life at Nishida Tenko's Ittoen. From 1916 (Taisho 5) to the following year, he serialized his play "The Priest and His Disciple" in the Shirakaba school's satellite magazine "River of Life," which was published as a book in 1917 and caused a great sensation. He subsequently published religious and ethical works such as "The Unsung Man" and "Fuse Prince's Entry into the Mountain," and showed a broadening of social perspective in works such as "Father's Worries" and "Red Soul." In 1926, he founded "Seikatsusha," which became a place of intellectual solidarity for young people seeking the truth. On the other hand, he published collections of essays such as "Departure with Love and Awareness," "Quiet Meditation," "Overcoming," "Absolute Life," and "Life and a Sheet of Religion," and, opposing his self consumed by lust, he deepened his thought through a journey of religious inquiry that included Christianity, Buddhism, and Shintoism, establishing his own foothold. In his later years, he preached Mahayana vitalism in works such as "Love and Awareness for the Fatherland" and "Japanese Cultural Declaration," and provided a theory for justifying fascism. He also wrote novels such as the collection of letters "Traces of the Breath of Youth" and "Pure Rainbow," which has an agrarian young man as the protagonist. He died on February 12, 1943.

[Shintaro Takahashi]

"The Selected Works of Kurata Hyakuzo, 5 volumes (1953-54, Shunjusha)" ▽ "Kurata Hyakuzo - Modern Japanese and Religion, by Suzuki Norihisa (1970, Daimeido)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

戯曲家、評論家。明治24年2月23日広島県生まれ。1910年（明治43）旧制第一高等学校に入学したが結核で中退。のちカリエスの併発もあって生涯の多くを闘病に過ごした。西田幾多郎の『善の研究』に傾倒、西田天香(てんこう)の一燈園生活も経験。1916年（大正5）から翌年にかけて白樺(しらかば)派の衛星誌『生命の川』に戯曲『出家とその弟子』を連載、1917年単行本となり大きな反響をよんだ。以後『歌はぬ人』『布施太子之入山』などの宗教的倫理的作品を刊行、『父の心配』『赤い霊魂』などには社会的視野の広がりを示し、1926年に『生活者』を創刊、求道的青年の知的連帯の場となった。一方『愛と認識との出発』『静思』『超克』『絶対的生活』『生活と一枚の宗教』などの論集を発刊し、情欲に身を焼く自己を対極として、キリスト教、仏教、神道(しんとう)にも及ぶ求道的遍歴に思想を深め、独自の地歩を固めた。晩年には『祖国への愛と認識』『日本主義文化宣言』などで大乗的生命主義を説き、ファシズム正当化の理論づけを果たした。書簡集『青春の息の痕(あと)』や農本主義青年を主人公とした『浄(きよ)らかな虹(にじ)』などの小説もある。昭和18年2月12日没。

［高橋新太郎］

『『倉田百三選集』全5巻（1953～54・春秋社）』▽『鈴木範久著『倉田百三――近代日本人と宗教』（1970・大明堂）』

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