Shoyo Tsubouchi

Japanese: 坪内逍遥 - つぼうち・しょうよう

Year of death: February 28, 1935
Year of birth: May 22, 1859 (June 22, 1859)
Novelist, playwright, critic, translator, and educator from the Meiji to Showa eras. His real name was Yuzo, later Yuzo, and he was also known by other names such as Harunoya Oboro. He was born in Otamura, Mino Province (Minokamo City, Gifu Prefecture). His father was an official at the Owari Domain magistrate's office. He moved to Nagoya, and, influenced by his mother, he became interested in the theater. He visited the rental bookstore Daiso every day and was an avid reader of Edo-era comic novels. He went to Tokyo and entered Kaisei School (University of Tokyo), where he made friends with Takada Sanae and others, and became interested in Western literature such as Shakespeare. As a student, he pushed himself to study literature, even though he had failed a grade. This was summarized in his essay on realistic novels in "The Essence of Novels" (1885-86). His criticism of Takizawa Bakin's "The Tale of the Eight Dogs" was also an attempt to step out from his previous self. His novel "Tosei Shosei Kishitsu" (Tosei Shosei Kishitsu), which was published around the same time, was also well received, and Masaoka Shiki was excited to read it. From "Sister and the Slouch" (1885-86) to "Wife" (1889), his psychological descriptions are highly sophisticated, but after this work he stopped writing novels and thereafter concentrated on theatrical innovation. He taught at Tokyo Senmon Gakko (Waseda University) from an early age, founded the literary magazine "Waseda Bungaku" (1891), nurtured many brilliant scholars, and fought the "Debate on Unidealized Matters" with Mori Ogai. "A Single Leave of the Paulownia Tree" (1894-95) is known as a historical drama, and his editing of "Kokugo Dokuhon" (Japanese Language Reader) also influenced secondary education. After the Russo-Japanese War, he formed the Literary Association and produced the play "En no Gyoja" (1917). He also completed a complete translation of Shakespeare, and his activities did not wane until his later years. His multifaceted activities over three generations from the Meiji to the Showa periods may be seen as a microcosm of modern Japanese literature and art. <Works> "Enlarged edition of Shoyo's collected works", 17 volumes <References> "Encyclopedia of Shoyo Tsubouchi"

(Kunihiko Nakajima)

Source: Asahi Japanese Historical Biography: Asahi Shimbun Publications Inc. About Asahi Japanese Historical Biography

Japanese:

没年：昭和10.2.28(1935)
生年：安政6.5.22(1859.6.22)
明治から昭和の小説家,劇作家,評論家,翻訳家,教育家。本名勇蔵のち雄蔵,別号春の屋おぼろなど。美濃国太田村(岐阜県美濃加茂市)生まれ。父は尾張藩代官所役人。名古屋に移り住み,母の影響で芝居に親しむ。貸本屋大惣に日参,江戸戯作を耽読。上京し開成学校(東大)に入り,高田早苗らと交友,シェークスピアなど西洋文学に目覚めた。学生時代,落第したこともあって文学勉強を押進。それが『小説神髄』(1885～86)の写実小説論にまとめられる。滝沢馬琴の『八犬伝』を批判したのも,今までの自分から一歩出ようとした試みであった。同時期の小説『当世書生気質』も好評で,正岡子規も読んで興奮した。『妹と背かがみ』(1885～86)から『細君』(1889)になると,その心理描写も高度であるが,この作で小説の筆を折り,以後演劇革新に集中。早くから東京専門学校(早大)で教え,文芸誌『早稲田文学』を創刊(1891),多数の俊秀を育て,森鴎外と「没理想論争」を戦わせた。『桐一葉』(1894～95)は歴史劇として知られ,『国語読本』の編集も中等教育に影響を与えた。日露戦争後に文芸協会を組織,戯曲『役の行者』(1917)を得た。シェークスピアの完訳も達成,その活動は晩年まで衰えなかった。明治から昭和まで3代にわたって多方面に活動した姿は,日本の近代文学,芸術の縮図ともなっていよう。<著作>『増補版逍遥選集』全17巻<参考文献>『坪内逍遥事典』

(中島国彦)

出典　朝日日本歴史人物事典：（株）朝日新聞出版朝日日本歴史人物事典について　情報

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