更新日：2010年7月5日

Kume Masao

Kume Masao, novelist and playwright, was born in 1891 in Nagano Prefecture. While studying at Tokyo University, he helped Akutagawa Ryunosuke and Kikuchi Kan to launch the third series of the literary journal Shin Shicho (New Currents of Thought). With Akutagawa he became a pupil of Natsume Soseki in 1915. By the following year, he was already publishing prolifically, including the story "Chichi no Shi" (My Father’s Death), and the play, "Abukuma Shinju" (Love Suicides at Abukuma), and became recognized as an up-and-coming writer.

After Soseki’s death, Kume wrote about his unrequited love for Soseki’s daughter in stories such as "Hotaru Gusa", "Hasen" (Shipwreck), and "Bosan" (Visit to a Grave), which brought him fame as a popular novelist. In 1918 he founded the Kokumin Bungeikai (People’s Arts Movement) with Osanai Kaoru and Kubota Mantaro and devoted his energy to improving the Japanese theater.

Kume also wrote literary criticism and translated Western works. Furthermore, he had been interested in haiku verse since his early teens and wrote under the pen name, Santei. He was a disciple of Kawahigashi Hekito and published anthologies such as "Maki Uta" (Pastoral Song) and "Kaeribana."

The writer lived in Kamakura from 1925, first at Omachi, then Yukinoshita, and settling down in 1930 at Nikaido, where he lived until his death in 1952 at the age of 60. He was a prominent figure in Kamakura literary circles, helping to establish the Kamakura P.E.N. Club and running the Kamakura Bunko lending library.