Koyo Ozaki

Novelist. Real name Tokutaro. "Momiji" comes from Momijiyama in Shiba, Tokyo, where he was born. Other pseudonyms include Enzan, Hankatsuujin, and Tochimando. Born on December 16, 1867 (January 10, 1868 in the solar calendar) in Shiba Nakamonzen-cho, Edo. His father, Sozo, was a merchant with the trade name "Iseya," but also went by the name Kokusai and was a master of horn carving. However, he was a celebrity and made a living as a hokan (a man who plays a puppet), so he was better known to the public as "Kokusai in the red haori coat." Momiji was ashamed of his father and hid it from his friends. His mother died when he was young, and he was taken in and raised by his maternal grandparents, the Araki family. After graduating from Tokyo Prefectural Second Middle School (now Hibiya High School), he entered the University Preparatory School (now the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Tokyo), where he formed the Kenyusha Society with Ishibashi Shian and Yamada Bimyo, and launched the journal Garakuta Bunko. This was in 1885 (Meiji 18). The number of members increased and the magazine developed, and the Kenyusha Society eventually came to exert influence in the literary world, but Momiji, with his bossy personality and strong friendships, was always at the center of it all.

He entered the Imperial University, where he switched from law to Japanese literature, but in December 1889 he joined the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper and began his career as a writer, dropping out the following year in 1890. Prior to this, in April 1889, he published "Ninbinbikuniirozange" (The Sexual Confession of Two Nuns) as the first issue of "One Hundred New Works." It was well-received as a deeply moving "pathetic novel," and marked his debut as a popular writer. After this, he serialized a series of long and short stories in the Yomiuri Shimbun, each of which realistically depicted the glamorous customs of women. In March 1891, he moved to a new house in Yokodera-cho, Ushigome Ward, and married Kikuko Kabashima (Kikuko). Soon, writers such as Kyoka Izumi, Fuyo Oguri, and Shusei Tokuda all became his disciples, and he gained a high reputation and was revered in the literary world as the "master of Yokodera-cho." His works, such as "Kyara Makura" (1890), "Two Wives" (1891-92), and "Three Wives" (1892), fully display the distinctive style of his writing.

After a period of adapting and collaborating with his disciples, he produced works such as Kokoro no Yami (Darkness in the Heart) (1893), which depicted the obsession of a blind man, and in 1896, Taishō tahan (Many Passions, Many Regrets), written in colloquial Japanese and excellent at describing character and psychology. From 1897 onwards, he was engaged in writing his greatest work, Konjiki Yasha (Golden Demon) (1897-1902), which was the most popular work among readers during the Meiji period, but he died of illness before the end of the work. October 30, 1903. He is known for the haiku "If I die, the autumn dew will be only a day's pleasure." He established a family as a haiku poet, but his talent as a serious novelist is also revered by writers of the Taisho and Showa periods as "Momiji Sanmyaku."

[Yasushi Oka]

"The Complete Works of Koyo, 6 volumes (1979, Japan Library Center)" ▽ "The Complete Works of Meiji Literature 18: The Works of Koyo Ozaki" (1965, Chikumashobo) ▽ "The Life and Literature of Koyo Ozaki, by Yasuo Oka (1968, Meijishoin)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

小説家。本名徳太郎。「紅葉」は、生地、東京・芝紅葉山(もみじやま)にちなむ。ほかに縁山(えんざん)、半可通人(はんかつうじん)、十千万堂(とちまんどう)などの別号がある。江戸・芝中門前町に、慶応(けいおう)3年12月16日生まれる（太陽暦では1868年1月10日にあたる）。父惣蔵(そうぞう)は屋号を「伊勢屋(いせや)」という商人だったが、谷斎(こくさい)と号し角彫(つのぼ)りの名人でもあった。が、名人気質(かたぎ)で生活は苦しく、幇間(ほうかん)となり生計をたてていたので、世間ではむしろ「赤羽織の谷斎」として知られていた。紅葉はこの父を恥じ、友人にもひた隠しにしていた。幼時に母と死別し、以後は母方の祖父母荒木氏に引き取られ、養育された。東京府第二中学校（現都立日比谷(ひびや)高校）を経て、大学予備門（現東京大学教養学部）に入学、ここで石橋思案(しあん)、山田美妙(びみょう)らと硯友社(けんゆうしゃ)を結成、機関誌『我楽多(がらくた)文庫』を創刊した。1885年（明治18）のことである。同人も増加して雑誌も発展し、硯友社はやがて文壇に勢力を示すようになったが、紅葉は親分肌の性格で友情に厚く、つねにその中心であった。

　帝国大学に進学、法科から和文学科に転科したが、1889年12月読売新聞社に入社し、作家としてたったので、翌1890年には退学した。これ以前の1889年4月、「新著百種」第1号として『二人比丘尼色懺悔(ににんびくにいろざんげ)』を刊行。情趣深い「悲哀小説」として好評を博し、人気作家としてデビューしたことによる。この後『読売新聞』に次々と艶麗(えんれい)な女性風俗を写実的に描いた長短編を連載。1891年3月、牛込(うしごめ)区横寺(よこでら)町に新居を構え、樺島菊子(かばしまきくこ)（喜久子）と結婚、やがて泉鏡花(きょうか)、小栗風葉(おぐりふうよう)、徳田秋声(とくだしゅうせい)らが続々入門し、その声望は高く「横寺町の大家」として文壇に仰がれた。『伽羅枕(きゃらまくら)』（1890）、『二人(ににん)女房』（1891～92）、『三人妻』（1892）など、作風の特色を遺憾なく発揮している。

　その後、翻案や弟子との合作を試みた時期を経て、盲人の執念を描いた『心の闇(やみ)』（1893）などから、1896年、性格、心理の描写に優れた言文一致体の『多情多恨』を出し、さらに1897年以降、一代の大作『金色夜叉(こんじきやしゃ)』（1897～1902）の執筆に従事、明治年間で最高の読者の人気を集めたが、中途で病没した。明治36年10月30日。「死なば秋露のひぬ間ぞおもしろき」の句がある。俳人としても一家をなしたが、本格小説家としての力量は「紅葉山脈」として大正・昭和の作家たちにも仰がれている。

［岡　保生］

『『紅葉全集』全6巻（1979・日本図書センター）』▽『『明治文学全集18　尾崎紅葉集』（1965・筑摩書房）』▽『岡保生著『尾崎紅葉の生涯と文学』（1968・明治書院）』

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