Funahashi Seiichi

Novelist and playwright. Born on December 25, 1904 in Yokoamicho, Honjo, Tokyo. His father was a professor at Tokyo Imperial University specializing in metallurgical engineering, and his mother was the daughter of a wealthy businessman, so both were from prestigious families. Influenced by his maternal grandmother, he was exposed to theater, geisha, and sumo wrestlers from an early age, and fully absorbed the world that would later shape Funabashi's literature. He attended the former Mito High School and graduated from the Japanese Literature Department of Tokyo Imperial University. While still a student, he formed the theater troupe Kokoroza with Murayama Tomoyoshi and Kawarasaki Chojuro, and in October 1926 (Taisho 15), he entered the literary world with the play Shiroi Ude (White Arms) in Shincho, and published a collection of plays A Spoonful of Desire (Aiyoku) (1930), but gradually he turned from playwright to novelist. Bokuseki (Wood and Stone) (1938) established Funahashi's original world of traditional sensual beauty while suppressing it, and Shikkaiya Kokichi (1941-45), which he continued to write during the Pacific War, is filled with his determination to resist the times and protect the spirit of traditional beauty. After the Second World War, he became a popular author at the forefront of the field, publishing works such as "A Picture of Lady Yuki" (1948-50), "Geisha Konatsu" (1952), and the historical novel "A Life of Flowers" (1952-53), with Ii Naosuke as the protagonist. He continued to deepen his style, completing his works by fusing an aesthetic world with traditional Japanese beauty with "A Distant View of a Woman" (1961-63) and "A Breast Ornament of a Woman I Love" (1967). In addition to his creative writing, he also published a full-scale research book, "The Legend of Iwano Homei" (1938), and his spirit of criticism of the times, such as "Advocacy of Liberal Literature" (1934), which sparked debate about activism, active spirit, and the intellectual class, cannot be overlooked. He died on January 13, 1976.

[Morimoto Minoru]

"The Selections of Seiichi Funahashi, 13 volumes (1968, Shinchosha)" ▽ "The Complete Works of Japanese Literature 60: Seiichi Funahashi" (1966, Shueisha)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

小説家、劇作家。明治37年12月25日、東京・本所(ほんじょ)横網町に生まれる。父は冶金(やきん)工学専攻の東京帝国大学教授、母も財閥の娘で、ともに名門の出である。母方の祖母の影響により、幼時から芝居、芸者、相撲(すもう)取りなどに親しく接し、後年の舟橋文学を形成する世界を存分に吸収した。旧制水戸高校を経て東京帝国大学国文科を卒業。在学中より村山知義(ともよし)、河原崎(かわらさき)長十郎らと劇団心座(こころざ)を結成、1926年（大正15）10月、戯曲『白い腕』を『新潮』に発表して文壇に進出し、戯曲集『愛慾(あいよく)の一匙(さじ)』（1930）を出版したが、しだいに劇作家から小説家へと転身した。『木石(ぼくせき)』（1938）は舟橋本来の伝統的官能的な美の世界を抑制しながら定着したもので、太平洋戦争中に書き継がれた『悉皆屋(しっかいや)康吉』（1941～45）には、時代に抵抗して伝統的な美の精神を守ろうとする決意が込められている。第二次世界大戦後は第一線の人気作家として『雪夫人絵図』（1948～50）、『芸者小夏』（1952）、あるいは井伊直弼(いいなおすけ)を主人公とした歴史小説『花の生涯』（1952～53）などを発表し続けてその作風を深め、『ある女の遠景』（1961～63）、『好きな女の胸飾り』（1967）によって、唯美的世界を日本の伝統的な美と融合させながら完成した。創作以外にも本格的な研究書『岩野泡鳴伝』（1938）があり、また1934年（昭和9）『自由主義文学の提唱』を発表して行動主義、能動精神、知識階級についての論争を惹起(じゃっき)した時代批評精神も見過ごすことはできない。昭和51年1月13日没。

［森本　穫］

『『舟橋聖一選集』全13巻（1968・新潮社）』▽『『日本文学全集60　舟橋聖一』（1966・集英社）』

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