People who live in the sea

A full-length novel by Hayama Yoshiki. Published by Kaizosha in October 1926 (Taisho 15). During World War I, the coal ship Manjumaru leaves Muroran port in a storm, ignoring the distress signal of a shipwrecked ship and heading for Yokohama without treating the injured head steward. In this inhuman life at sea, the lower-ranking crew awaken to class consciousness, launch a strike and win, but in Yokohama they find their leaders arrested. The novel was written in prison, based on the author's experiences as a lower-ranking crew member and in the labor movement. Based on a tone of realism with humor, the novel captures the lives, consciousness and growth of seafaring workers with fresh expressions and style, demonstrating the success of a new class-based literature in practice and having a profound influence on the next generation of writers such as Kobayashi Takiji.

[Shoji Sobue]

"Complete Works of Yoshiki Hayama 1" (1975, Chikuma Shobo)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

葉山嘉樹(よしき)の長編小説。1926年（大正15）10月改造社刊。第一次世界大戦期、暴風雪を冒し室蘭(むろらん)港を出た石炭船万寿丸は、難破船の救助信号を黙殺し、負傷したボーイ長の手当てをせず横浜に向かう。こういう非人間的な海上生活のなかで、下級船員たちは階級意識に目覚め、ストライキを敢行し勝利するが、横浜で迎えていたのは指導者たちの逮捕であった。作者の下級船員体験や労働運動体験などをもとに獄中で書かれた。ユーモアを含むリアリズムを基調に、新鮮な表現と文体で海上労働者の生活、意識とその成長がよくとらえられ、新しい階級的な文学の成功を実作上で実証し、次の世代の小林多喜二(たきじ)らに深い影響を与えた。

［祖父江昭二］

『『葉山嘉樹全集1』（1975・筑摩書房）』

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