Haruo Umezaki

Novelist. Born in Fukuoka City on February 15, 1915. After graduating from the Fifth High School in Kumamoto, he graduated from the Department of Japanese Literature at Tokyo Imperial University in 1940 (Showa 15). The year before, he published his debut work, "Fuen," in "Waseda Bungaku." This is a masterpiece that imprints the dark anxiety of youth as a mental landscape in the style of Kajii Motojiro. In 1942, he was called up to the army and assigned to the Tsushima Heavy Artillery Corps, but due to illness he returned home the same day. Around this time, he worked for the Tokyo City Education Bureau and Toshiba, and wrote several short stories. In 1944, he was called up to the navy and became a code specialist, moving from one land base to another in Kyushu until the end of the war. In 1945, immediately after his demobilization, he finished writing "Sakurajima," and the following September, with an introduction by Asami Fukashi, it was published in the inaugural issue of the quarterly magazine "Sunao." The success of this work made Umezaki one of the leading figures in postwar literature alongside Noma Hiroshi and Shiina Rinzo. Other war stories include "The End of the Day" (1947), "The Scenery of B Island" (1948), and "Citizen Soldiers of Luneta" (1949). Umezaki was originally a writer skilled at lightly depicting the inner struggles of human psychology, and this series of stories about everyday life includes "Clams" (1947), "Round Song" (1948), and "Yellow Days" (1949). His works "S's Back" (1952) and "The Spring and Autumn of the Borrowers" (1954), which added witty humor, were well received by a wide readership, and the latter won the Naoki Prize. He was expected to continue to achieve great things after that, winning the Shinchosha Literature Prize for "Hourglass" (1955) and the Art Encouragement Prize for "Mad Kite" (1963), but he died on July 19, 1965 due to cirrhosis of the liver caused by excessive drinking in addition to physical and mental health issues that had been present since around 1983. His posthumous work, "Genka" (1965), received the Mainichi Publishing Culture Prize.

[Hisashi Furubayashi]

"The Complete Works of Umezaki Haruo, 7 volumes (1966-67, Shinchosha)" ▽ "The Complete Works of Umezaki Haruo, 7 volumes and 1 supplementary volume (1984-88, Okisekisha)" ▽ "On Umezaki Haruo, by Nakai Masayoshi (1969, Torami Shobo)" ▽ "The Phantom Man, by Umezaki Etsuko and others (1975, Toho Publishing)" ▽ "Miscellaneous Notes on Yuuki-an, by Umezaki Mitsuo (1977, Eiryu Publishing)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

小説家。大正4年2月15日福岡市生まれ。熊本の第五高等学校を経て1940年（昭和15）東京帝国大学国文科を卒業。その前年に処女作『風宴(ふうえん)』を『早稲田(わせだ)文学』に発表している。これは青春の暗い焦燥を梶井(かじい)基次郎ふうの心象風景として刻みつけた佳作である。42年、陸軍に召集されて対馬(つしま)重砲隊に赴いたが、病気のため即日帰郷となる。この前後、東京市教育局や東芝に勤務し、いくつかの短編を書いた。44年、今度は海軍に召集されて暗号特技兵となり、敗戦まで九州の陸上基地を転々とする。45年、復員の直後に『桜島』を書き上げ、翌年9月、浅見淵(ふかし)の紹介で季刊誌『素直(すなお)』創刊号に発表。この一作の成功で野間宏(のまひろし)、椎名麟三(しいなりんぞう)と並んで一躍戦後派文学の代表的存在となった。戦争ものには、ほかに『日の果て』（1947）、『B島風物誌』（1948）、『ルネタの市民兵』（1949）などがある。もともと梅崎は人間心理の暗闘を軽妙に描くのに巧みな作家で、この市井事ものの系列には『蜆(しじみ)』（1947）、『輪唱』（1948）、『黄色い日々』（1949）などがあり、さらに洒脱(しゃだつ)なユーモアが加わった『Sの背中』（1952）、『ボロ家の春秋』（1954）は広範な読者層の評判をよび、後者では直木賞を受賞した。その後も『砂時計』（1955）で新潮社文学賞、『狂い凧(だこ)』（1963）で芸術選奨を受けるなど活躍が期待されたが、58年ごろからの心身不調に加えて過度の飲酒による肝硬変のため、昭和40年7月19日没。遺作『幻化(げんか)』（1965）は毎日出版文化賞を受けた。

［古林　尚］

『『梅崎春生全集』全7巻（1966～67・新潮社）』▽『『梅崎春生全集』7巻・別巻1（1984～88・沖積舎）』▽『中井正義著『梅崎春生論』（1969・虎見書房）』▽『梅崎恵津他著『幻化の人』（1975・東邦出版社）』▽『梅崎光生著『幽鬼庵雑記』（1977・永立出版）』

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