Takeda Rintaro

Novelist. Born in Osaka City on May 9, 1904. The eldest son of Takeda Sajiro and Sumie. After graduating from the former Third High School, he went on to study French literature at Tokyo Imperial University. During that time, he founded the coterie magazine Mahiru. He also participated in the Tsujibasha group, which was run by Fujisawa Takeo and others. Around this time, he also participated in the union movement, working for the Imperial University settlement, and used his experiences to write proletarian literature such as Violence (1929). However, in an attempt to escape from his political bias, he also wrote so-called "commonplace stories" that depicted the customs of the time from a commoner's perspective, such as The Japanese Threepenny Opera (1932). In 1933 (Showa 8), he participated in the founding of Bungakukai with Kawabata Yasunari and Kobayashi Hideo. He depicted the customs of the time in newspaper serials such as "Ginza Haccho" (1934) and "View of the Lower World" (1935-36). In 1936, he founded "Jinmin Bunko" (People's Library), and advocated a spirit of prose in opposition to the spirit of poetry of the "Japanese Romantic School". In the magazine, he wrote serialized novels about Ihara Saikaku, whom he admired. During the Pacific War, he was conscripted into Java as a writer, but he did not produce any notable works from this time. His novels were influenced by Shiga Naoya, Yokomitsu Riichi, proletarian literature, and Saikaku, but he remained consistent in depicting ordinary people from an ordinary person's perspective. He died of cirrhosis of the liver on March 31, 1946.

[Toya Ryunosuke]

"The Complete Works of Takeda Rintaro, 3 volumes (1977, Shinchosha)" ▽ "Biography of Takeda Rintaro, by Koichi Otani (1982, Kawade Shobo Shinsha)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

小説家。明治37年5月9日、大阪市に生まれる。父武田左二郎、母すみゑの長男。旧制三高を経て東京帝国大学仏文科に進む。その間同人雑誌『真昼』を創刊。藤沢桓夫(たけお)らの『辻馬車(つじばしゃ)』に参加する。このころから帝大セツルメントの仕事をするなど組合運動にも加わり、その体験を生かして『暴力』（1929）などプロレタリア文学作品を書く。しかし一方その政治主義的偏向から脱出しようとして『日本三文オペラ』（1932）のような庶民的な視点で当時の風俗を描いたいわゆる「市井事もの」の筆をとった。1933年（昭和8）には川端康成(かわばたやすなり)、小林秀雄(ひでお)らと『文学界』創刊に参加。『銀座八丁』（1934）、『下界の眺め』（1935～36）など新聞連載という形で当時の風俗を描き出している。1936年には『人民文庫』を創刊し、「日本浪曼派」の詩精神に対抗して散文精神を主張。その雑誌に、傾倒する井原西鶴(さいかく)について連載小説の形で書く。太平洋戦争中には徴用作家としてジャワへ行ったが、このころにめぼしい作品はない。彼の小説は志賀直哉(なおや)、横光利一(よこみつりいち)、プロレタリア文学、西鶴などの影響を受けたが、庶民的視点によって庶民を描くという点では終始変わることがなかった。昭和21年3月31日、肝硬変で死亡。

［遠矢龍之介］

『『武田麟太郎全集』全三巻（1977・新潮社）』▽『大谷晃一著『評伝武田麟太郎』（1982・河出書房新社）』

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