Ishibashi Ningetsu

Novelist and literary critic. Born in Toyooka Village, Chikugo (Fukuoka Prefecture). His real name was Tomokichi. In 1887 (Meiji 20), he entered the law department of the Imperial University and studied German law, but he became familiar with German literature from an early age, and, using Lessing and others as his standards of criticism, he was active as a literary critic in the literary world in the early 1880s. In particular, his dispute with Mori Ogai over the evaluation of "Maihime" is famous as the first full-scale literary dispute in the history of modern Japanese literature. He also wrote critiques that examined the essence of literature, such as "Sojitsuron" (1890), but he also published novels such as "Oyae" (1889) and "Koretou Hyuga no Kami" (1894). After graduating from the Imperial University, he joined the Ministry of Home Affairs, and later moved to Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture, where he opened a law practice, and gradually moved away from literature. In 1899 (Meiji 32), he moved to Nagasaki, where he served as a judge, lawyer, prefectural assembly member, etc. His third son was the literary critic Kenkichi Yamamoto.

[Oya Yukiyo]

"Complete Collection of Meiji Literature 23: Ishibashi Shinobu and Other Works" (1971, Chikuma Shobo)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

小説家、文芸評論家。筑後(ちくご)（福岡県）豊岡村に生まれる。本名友吉。1887年（明治20）帝国大学法科に入学、独法を学んだが、早くよりドイツ文学に親しみ、レッシングなどを批評の基準として、明治20年代前半の文壇に文芸評論家として活躍する。とくに『舞姫』評価をめぐっての森鴎外(おうがい)との論争は、日本近代文学史上初の本格的な文学論争として有名。また『想実論』（1890）など、文学の本質を考察した評論もあるが、一方『お八重』（1889）や『惟任日向守(これとうひゅうがのかみ)』（1894）などの小説も発表している。帝大卒業後、内務省に入り、のち石川県金沢に移住、弁護士を開業、しだいに文学から離れた。99年（明治32）長崎に移住、同地で判事、弁護士、県会議員などを務めた。三男が文芸評論家の山本健吉である。

［大屋幸世］

『『明治文学全集 23　石橋忍月他集』（1971・筑摩書房）』

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