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Kyōka Izumi
Kyōtarō Izumi (泉 鏡太郎, Izumi Kyōtarō; 4 November 1873 – 7 September 1939), known by his pen name Izumi Kyōka (泉 鏡花; Japanese pronunciation: [iꜜ.(d)zɯ.mʲi | kʲoꜜː.ka, i.(d)zɯ.mʲi kʲoꜜː.ka],), was a Japanese novelist, writer and kabuki playwright who was active during the prewar period.
Kyōka's writing differed greatly from that of the naturalist writers who dominated the literary scene at the time. Many of Kyōka's works are surrealist critiques of society. He is best known for a characteristic brand of Romanticism preferring tales of the supernatural heavily influenced by works of the earlier Edo period in Japanese arts and letters, which he tempered with his own personal vision of aesthetics and art in the modern age.
He is also considered one of the supreme stylists in modern Japanese literature, and the difficulty and richness of his prose has been frequently noted by fellow authors and critics.[by whom?] Like Natsume Sōseki and other Japanese authors with pen names, Kyōka is usually known by his pen name rather than his real given name.
Kyōka was born Izumi Kyōtarō on November 4, 1873 in the Shitashinmachi section of Kanazawa, Ishikawa, to Izumi Seiji (泉 清次, Izumi Seiji), a chaser and inlayer of metallic ornaments, and Nakata Suzu (中田 鈴, Nakata Suzu), daughter of a tsuzumi hand-drum player from Edo and younger sister to lead protagonist of the Noh theater, Kintarō Matsumoto. Because of his family's impoverished circumstances, he attended the tuition-free Hokuriku English-Japanese School, run by Christian missionaries.
Even before he entered grade school, young Kyōtarō's mother introduced him to literature in picture-books interspersed with text called kusazōshi, and his works would later show the influence of this early contact with such visual forms of story-telling. In April 1883, at nine years old, Kyōka lost his mother, who was 29 at the time. It was a great blow to his young mind, and he would attempt to recreate memories of her in works throughout his literary career.
In 1890, Kyōka went to Tokyo in order to follow the footsteps of Ozaki Kōyō, a literary figure of this time. From 1891-1894 Kyōka lived with Ozaki Kōyō and performed houseboy duties for him in return for his expertise opinions on his work. Kyōka was deeply impressed by Ozaki Kōyō's "Amorous Confessions of Two Nuns" and decided to pursue a career in literature. That June he took a trip to Toyama Prefecture. At this time he worked as a teacher in private preparatory schools and spent his free time running through yomihon and kusazōshi. In November of that year, however, Kyōka's aspiration to an artistic career drove him to Tokyo, where he intended to enter the tutelage of Kōyō himself.
On 19 November 1891, he called on Kōyō in Ushigome (牛込)) (part of present-day Shinjuku) without prior introduction and requested that he be allowed into the school immediately. He was accepted, and from that time began life as a live-in apprentice. Other than a brief trip to Kanazawa in December of the following year, Kyōka spent all of his time in the Ozaki household, proving his value to Kōyō through correcting his manuscripts and household tasks. Kyōka greatly adored his teacher, thinking of him as a teacher of more than literature, a benefactor who nourished his early career before he gained a name for himself. He felt deeply a personal indebtedness to Kōyō, and continued to admire the author throughout his life.
Kyōka's first published work, "Yazaemon Kanmuri" (冠弥左衛門, Kanmuri Yazaemon), was serialized beginning in May 1893 in Kyoto's Hinode Shimbun (Now The Kyoto Shimbun). Apparently it was very unpopular and the editor requested the story be dropped immediately; however, due to Kōyō's pleadings on the part of his young student, Kyōka was allowed to print the entire story. The next year the story was resold to the Kaga, Ishikawa Hokuriku Shinpo, once again for serialization. This time Kyōka's work gained some favorable criticism, though most likely through Kōyō's active involvement.
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Kyōka Izumi
Kyōtarō Izumi (泉 鏡太郎, Izumi Kyōtarō; 4 November 1873 – 7 September 1939), known by his pen name Izumi Kyōka (泉 鏡花; Japanese pronunciation: [iꜜ.(d)zɯ.mʲi | kʲoꜜː.ka, i.(d)zɯ.mʲi kʲoꜜː.ka],), was a Japanese novelist, writer and kabuki playwright who was active during the prewar period.
Kyōka's writing differed greatly from that of the naturalist writers who dominated the literary scene at the time. Many of Kyōka's works are surrealist critiques of society. He is best known for a characteristic brand of Romanticism preferring tales of the supernatural heavily influenced by works of the earlier Edo period in Japanese arts and letters, which he tempered with his own personal vision of aesthetics and art in the modern age.
He is also considered one of the supreme stylists in modern Japanese literature, and the difficulty and richness of his prose has been frequently noted by fellow authors and critics.[by whom?] Like Natsume Sōseki and other Japanese authors with pen names, Kyōka is usually known by his pen name rather than his real given name.
Kyōka was born Izumi Kyōtarō on November 4, 1873 in the Shitashinmachi section of Kanazawa, Ishikawa, to Izumi Seiji (泉 清次, Izumi Seiji), a chaser and inlayer of metallic ornaments, and Nakata Suzu (中田 鈴, Nakata Suzu), daughter of a tsuzumi hand-drum player from Edo and younger sister to lead protagonist of the Noh theater, Kintarō Matsumoto. Because of his family's impoverished circumstances, he attended the tuition-free Hokuriku English-Japanese School, run by Christian missionaries.
Even before he entered grade school, young Kyōtarō's mother introduced him to literature in picture-books interspersed with text called kusazōshi, and his works would later show the influence of this early contact with such visual forms of story-telling. In April 1883, at nine years old, Kyōka lost his mother, who was 29 at the time. It was a great blow to his young mind, and he would attempt to recreate memories of her in works throughout his literary career.
In 1890, Kyōka went to Tokyo in order to follow the footsteps of Ozaki Kōyō, a literary figure of this time. From 1891-1894 Kyōka lived with Ozaki Kōyō and performed houseboy duties for him in return for his expertise opinions on his work. Kyōka was deeply impressed by Ozaki Kōyō's "Amorous Confessions of Two Nuns" and decided to pursue a career in literature. That June he took a trip to Toyama Prefecture. At this time he worked as a teacher in private preparatory schools and spent his free time running through yomihon and kusazōshi. In November of that year, however, Kyōka's aspiration to an artistic career drove him to Tokyo, where he intended to enter the tutelage of Kōyō himself.
On 19 November 1891, he called on Kōyō in Ushigome (牛込)) (part of present-day Shinjuku) without prior introduction and requested that he be allowed into the school immediately. He was accepted, and from that time began life as a live-in apprentice. Other than a brief trip to Kanazawa in December of the following year, Kyōka spent all of his time in the Ozaki household, proving his value to Kōyō through correcting his manuscripts and household tasks. Kyōka greatly adored his teacher, thinking of him as a teacher of more than literature, a benefactor who nourished his early career before he gained a name for himself. He felt deeply a personal indebtedness to Kōyō, and continued to admire the author throughout his life.
Kyōka's first published work, "Yazaemon Kanmuri" (冠弥左衛門, Kanmuri Yazaemon), was serialized beginning in May 1893 in Kyoto's Hinode Shimbun (Now The Kyoto Shimbun). Apparently it was very unpopular and the editor requested the story be dropped immediately; however, due to Kōyō's pleadings on the part of his young student, Kyōka was allowed to print the entire story. The next year the story was resold to the Kaga, Ishikawa Hokuriku Shinpo, once again for serialization. This time Kyōka's work gained some favorable criticism, though most likely through Kōyō's active involvement.
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