Museum of Modern Japanese Literature

This museum is both a library and a museum specializing in modern literature. In the spring of 1962, Takami Jun, Ito Sei, Inagaki Tatsuro, and Odagiri Susumu called for the founding of 113 writers and scholars, including Kawabata Yasunari and Hisamatsu Sen'ichi, and with support from the national government, Tokyo Metropolitan Government, the media, and other sectors, they established a foundation, built a building in Komaba Park in Meguro, Tokyo, and opened in the fall of 1967 with an exhibition on Tolstoy. Since then, the museum has housed 105 collections, including works by Higuchi Ichiyo, Ishikawa Takuboku (Toki Zenmaro), Akutagawa Ryunosuke, Arishima Takeo, Ikuma Jun, Sei, Tatsuro, Nakajima Kenzo, Dazai Osamu, Yoshida Seiichi, Suzuki Mosaburo, and the Akutagawa and Naoki Prize winners. Of the approximately 1 million items, about 10% are handwritten and special materials. In addition to reprinting and reproducing documents and materials, and holding lectures, the museum has unearthed many new materials with each of its more than 100 exhibitions, including works by Natsume Soseki, Koda Rohan, Ryunosuke, Takeo, Nogami Yaeko, Shiga Naoya, and Yasunari. Influenced by this, many museums and memorial halls were established all over the country. In the fall of 1984, the large sister museum, the Kanagawa Prefectural Museum of Modern Literature, was completed and opened in Yokohama's Minato Mirai Park. It houses over 500,000 items, including works by Kazuo Ozaki, Mokutaro Kinoshita, and Bunroku Shishi.

[Susumu Odagiri]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

近代文学専門の図書館・博物館を兼ねたミュージアム。1962年（昭和37）春、高見順(じゅん)、伊藤整(せい)、稲垣達郎(たつろう)、小田切進(すすむ)の呼びかけで川端康成(やすなり)、久松潜一ら113名の文学者・学者が発起し、国・東京都・マスコミなど各界からの援助を得て財団法人を設立、東京・目黒の駒場(こまば)公園内に館を建設、67年秋、トルストイ展で開館した。以後、樋口一葉(ひぐちいちよう)、石川啄木(たくぼく)＝土岐善麿(ときぜんまろ)、芥川龍之介(あくたがわりゅうのすけ)、有島武郎(たけお)・生馬(いくま)、順、整、達郎、中島健蔵(けんぞう)、太宰治(だざいおさむ)、吉田精一、鈴木茂三郎(もさぶろう)、芥川・直木賞など105のコレクションを収蔵、約100万点の資料中、約1割が肉筆と特別資料。文献・資料の翻刻・復刻、講座などのほか、夏目漱石(そうせき)、幸田露伴(ろはん)、龍之介、武郎、野上弥生子(やえこ)、志賀直哉(なおや)、康成ら100を超える展観のつど多くの新資料を発掘。その影響を受けて各地に多数の資料館や記念館が誕生した。84年秋に大型の姉妹館県立神奈川近代文学館が、横浜の港の見える丘公園内に完工開館。尾崎一雄(かずお)、木下杢太郎(もくたろう)、獅子文六(ししぶんろく)文庫など50万点以上を収蔵する。

［小田切進］

出典　小学館　日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)について　情報 | 凡例