更新日：2010年7月5日

Hisao Juran

Novelist Hisao Juran was born in Hokkaido in 1902. His real name was Abe Masao. After graduating from the Seigakuin Middle School in Tokyo, he went to work for the Hakodate branch of the Mainichi Shimbun newspaper. In his spare time, he wrote poetry and became interested in drama.

In 1928, he moved to Tokyo, where he apprenticed himself to the playwright, Kishida Kunio, and wrote his first play, Koppai asobi no domino. In 1929, he went to Paris to study physics and at the same time, he was able to learn about the French theater from the actor-director, Charles Dullin.

On returning to Japan, he began to work as an assistant stage director with the New Tsukiji Theater troupe. He also contributed mystery stories to the magazine, Shin seinen (New Youth). He displayed a wide talent: his fiction ranged from mystery tales and humor, to historical and contemporary stories, including Kinro (Golden Wolf) and Bochi tenbo tei. His short story, "Suzuki Mondo," won the Naoki Prize in 1951, and in 1955, "Boshizo," (The Mother), earlier serialized in the Yomiuri Shimbun, gained him first place in the New York Herald Tribune short story contest. He was one of the pioneers of black humor in Japanese literature and displayed extraordinary skills with his extensive knowledge of a wide range of subjects. Other novels include, Daikon (Radish), Jujigai, Usuyuki sho, and Hadairo no tsuki (Flesh-Colored Moon).

Hisao Juran lived in Zaimokuza from 1947 until his death in 1957, at the age of 55. He ashes rest in the Zaimokuza Rei-En cemetery.