Iwaya Sazanami

Novelist, fairy tale writer, and recitation fairy tale writer. His real name was Sueo. He was also known as Sazanami Sanjin and had the alias Oe Sazanami. He was born in Tokyo on June 6, 1870, as the son of Iwaya Ichiroku, a high-ranking government official and calligrapher. He was raised to take over the family business of medicine, but from his teens he became interested in literature, and purposely failed the entrance exam for the University Preparatory School to enter Sugiura Shigetake's Shokojuku, where he formed the Kenyusha Society with Ozaki Koyo and others and began writing novels. He published novels such as "Satsukigoi" and "Imosegai," but it was his children's fairy tale "Koganemaru," published in 1891 (Meiji 24) as the first volume of Hakubunkan's "Boys' Literature Series," that received overwhelming acclaim, and this marked his emergence as a pioneer of children's literature. Many of his works were published in the magazine "Boys' World," which he edited himself, and ideologically he endorsed Japan's militaristic approach, while literary he had not completely wiped away the vestiges of Edo-period comic fiction, and so cannot be considered truly modern children's literature. In response to public demand, he also retold traditional literature in works such as "Japanese Folk Tales" (24 volumes) and "World Fairy Tales" (100 volumes). From the late 1890s, he also devoted himself to reciting his own fairy tales, producing such reciting storytellers as Kurushima Takehiko and Kishibe Fukuo under his guidance. The volume of his works is enormous, and is collected in the "Kounami Otogi Zenshu" (16 volumes), but he also wrote many essays, such as "Momotaro-shugi no Kyoiku" (1915). He also published an autobiography, "Waga Goju Nen" (1920). He died on September 5, 1933.

[Shoichiro Kami]

"Japanese Children's Literature Series 1: The Iwaya Konami Collection" (1977, Holp Publishing)" ▽ "The Footsteps of the Waves - The Story of Konami" by Gentani Daishi (1974, Shinchosha)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

小説家、童話作家、口演(こうえん)童話家。本名は季雄(すえお)。漣山人(さざなみさんじん)とも号し、別名に大江小波(おおえのさざなみ)がある。明治3年6月6日、高級官吏で書家としても知られた巌谷一六(いちろく)の子として東京に生まれる。家業の医師を継ぐべく育てられたが、10代より文学に興味をもち、故意に大学予備門の入試に落ちて杉浦重剛(しげたけ)の称好塾に入り、尾崎紅葉らと硯友社(けんゆうしゃ)を結んで小説を書き始めた。『五月鯉(さつきごい)』『妹背貝(いもせがい)』などの小説を発表したが、1891年（明治24）に博文館『少年文学叢書(そうしょ)』の第一編として出版した子供向きのおとぎ話『こがね丸』が圧倒的な好評を得、これを契機に児童文学の開拓者として登場した。その作品の多くは自身の編集した雑誌『少年世界』に載せたもので、思想的には日本の軍国主義的な行き方を肯定し、文学的には江戸戯作(げさく)の残滓(ざんし)をぬぐいきっておらず、真に近代的な児童文学とみることはできない。世の要求に応じて『日本昔噺(むかしばなし)』（全24冊）、『世界お伽噺(とぎばなし)』（全100冊）など伝承文学の再話もしており、明治30年代の後半からは自作のおとぎ話の口演にも力を注ぎ、その門下から久留島武彦(くるしまたけひこ)、岸辺福雄などの口演童話家を出してもいる。その作品量は膨大で、『小波お伽全集』（全16巻）に収められているが、ほかに『桃太郎主義の教育』（1915）などエッセイ類も多い。自伝『我が五十年』（1920）がある。昭和8年9月5日没。

［上笙一郎］

『『日本児童文学大系1　巌谷小波集』（1977・ほるぷ出版）』▽『厳谷大四著『波の跫音――小波伝』（1974・新潮社）』

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