Bungeishunju - Bungeishunju

A general magazine. In 1923 (Taisho 12), the writer Kikuchi Kan established Bungeishunjusha in his home and launched a magazine of the same name with the January issue. It was published by Shunyodo. Initially, it was a literary essay magazine with Kawabata Yasunari, Yokomitsu Riichi and others as editors and Akutagawa Ryunosuke's Words of the Dwarf at the front, but later it added a creative writing column and transitioned into a literary magazine. The coterie system was abolished the following year, and from the September 1926 issue, a permanent "Special Readings" column was added to deal with current affairs, and the magazine took on the appearance of a general magazine. In 1928 (Showa 3), Bungeishunjusha was reorganized into a joint-stock company. When the Second Sino-Japanese War began in 1937, the magazine gradually showed a supportive attitude towards national policy, publishing a special issue on the China Incident as a monthly "Local Report," and in 1943, the Manchuria Bungeishunju Company was established. Publication ceased with the April 1945 issue, but resumed with the October issue after World War II, but was suspended again the following March when Kikuchi dissolved Bungeishunju Company. The following April, a new company was established with Sasaki Mosaku (1894-1966) as president (renamed Bungeishunju Co., Ltd. in 1966), and publication resumed with the June issue. Circulation subsequently increased under the editor-in-chief Ikeshima Shinpei (1909-1973). In particular, the roundtable discussion by Tatsuno Takashi, Tokugawa Musei, and Sato Hachiro, "His Majesty the Emperor Laughs A Lot" (June 1949 issue), attracted much attention, and Koizumi Shinzo's "Peace Theory" (January 1952 issue) also appealed greatly to the realist tendencies of the white-collar class. Also, Tachibana Takashi's "A Study of Tanaka Kakuei - His Finances and Connections" and Kodama Takaya's (1937-1975) "The Lonely Queen of the Etsuzankai" (November 1974 issue) are remembered for forcing Prime Minister Tanaka to resign.

The editorial policy of "let the people involved speak" and "let the facts speak" remained unchanged even after that, and when Emperor Showa took over the reign, the magazine frequently ran special features on the Emperor and the Showa period, which overlapped with the history of the Showa period. The December 1990 issue, which carried "Shocking Unreleased Records: Emperor Showa's Monologue - Eight Hours," sold over one million copies. In the Kobe serial child murders (Sakakibara case), the magazine published the statement of suspect A (March 1998 issue), going against the spirit of the Juvenile Law. The distinctive features of the magazine can be seen in long-running serials such as Eto Jun's "The Sea Revives" Parts 1-5 (1961-1983), which wrote about Yamamoto Gonbei, and Shiba Ryotaro's "The Shape of This Country" (1986-1996). Other works include Toyoko Yamazaki's novel "Daichi no Ko (Child of the Earth)" (1987-1991) and Takashi Tachibana's "Watashi no Toudai Ron (My Theory of Tokyo University)" (1998-2005). It is also the venue where the Akutagawa Prize, founded by Kan Kikuchi, is announced, and the literary-focused "Bessatsu Bungeishunju" is published.

[Hideo Kyotani and Natsumi Tanaka]

Bungeishunju, edited and published: Bungeishunju's Sixty Year Progress (1982) ▽ Bungeishunju, edited and published: Showa History as Seen in Bungeishunju, 3 volumes, 1 supplementary volume (1987-1989) ▽ Bungeishunju, edited and published: Bungeishunju's Seventy Year History, main volume and reference volumes (1991, 1994) ▽ Takasaki Ryuji, Magazine Media's War Responsibility (1995, Daisanbunmeisha) ▽ The Mainichi Shimbun, edited and published: Iwanami Shoten and Bungeishunju (1996)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

総合雑誌。1923年（大正12）作家菊池寛(かん)は自宅に文芸春秋社を設置し、同名の雑誌を1月号から創刊した。発売は春陽堂。当初は川端康成(やすなり)、横光利一(よこみつりいち)らを編集同人とし、芥川龍之介(あくたがわりゅうのすけ)の『侏儒(しゅじゅ)の言葉』を巻頭に据える文芸随筆雑誌であったが、その後創作欄を設けて文芸雑誌に移行。翌年には同人制も解消、1926年9月号から「特別読物」欄を常設して時事問題を扱い、総合雑誌の体裁を整えた。1928年（昭和3）には文芸春秋社を株式会社に改組。1937年日中戦争が始まると、しだいに国策協力の姿勢を示し、支那(しな)事変増刊号を「現地報告」として月刊化し、1943年には満州文芸春秋社を設立した。1945年4月号より休刊、第二次世界大戦後の10月号より復刊したが、翌年3月菊池が文芸春秋社を解散していったん休刊。翌4月、佐佐木茂索(もさく)（1894―1966）を社長に新社が設立され（1966年株式会社文芸春秋と改称）、6月号から復刊した。その後池島信平（1909―1973）編集長のもとに部数を伸ばした。とくに辰野隆(たつのゆたか)、徳川夢声、サトウ・ハチローの座談会『天皇陛下大いに笑ふ』（1949年6月号）が話題をよび、小泉信三(しんぞう)の『平和論』（1952年1月号）もホワイトカラー層の現実主義的傾向に訴えるところが大きかった。また、立花隆(たちばなたかし)の『田中角栄研究――その金脈と人脈』、児玉隆也(たかや)（1937―1975）の『淋(さび)しき越山(えつざん)会の女王』（1974年11月号）が田中首相を辞職に追い込んだことで記憶される。

　その後も「当事者の語る」「事実が物語る」という編集方針は変わらず、昭和天皇の代替わりに際しては、昭和の歴史とほぼ重なる雑誌として天皇特集や昭和特集をたびたび行い、『衝撃の未公開記録・昭和天皇の独白　八時間』を掲載した1990年（平成2）12月号は発行部数100万部を超えた。神戸連続児童殺害事件（酒鬼薔薇(さかきばら)事件）では容疑者Aの供述調書（1998年3月号）を掲載、少年法の趣旨に反する報道に踏み切った。山本権兵衛(ごんべえ)について書いた江藤淳(じゅん)の『海は甦(よみが)える』第1～5部（1961～1983）や司馬遼太郎(しばりょうたろう)『この国のかたち』（1986～1996）などの長期連載に雑誌の特色がみられる。ほかには山崎豊子の小説『大地の子』（1987～1991）、立花隆『私の東大論』（1998～2005）などがある。また、菊池寛創設の芥川賞発表の舞台でもあり、文芸中心の『別冊文芸春秋』も刊行されている。

［京谷秀夫・田中夏美］

『文芸春秋編・刊『文芸春秋六十年の歩み』（1982）』▽『文芸春秋編・刊『「文芸春秋」にみる昭和史』全3巻、別巻1（1987～1989）』▽『文芸春秋編・刊『文芸春秋七十年史』本編・資料編（1991、1994）』▽『高崎隆治著『雑誌メディアの戦争責任』（1995・第三文明社）』▽『毎日新聞社編・刊『岩波書店と文芸春秋』（1996）』

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