更新日：2010年7月5日

Kunikida Doppo

Kunikida Doppo, novelist and poet, was born in 1871 in Chiba Prefecture. His real name was Kunikida Tetsuo. While a student at Tokyo Senmon Gakko (now Waseda University), Doppo was baptized and became a Christian.

In 1894, after stints as a magazine editor and school teacher, he joined the news staff of the Kokumin Shimbun as a war correspondent. His reports from the front, published after his death as "Aitei Tsushin," found high favor among the readers. In 1895, he married Sasaki Nobuko, a marriage that lasted only five months. In "Azamukazaru no Ki" (An Honest Diary), a personal journal, he expressed his depression over the separation.

Doppo co-authored an anthology, "Jojoshi" (Lyric Poems), in 1897 with Tayama Katai and Matsuoka Kunio (a.k.a. Yanagita Kunio). Through his poetic style and such works as "Gen Oji" (Uncle Gen) and "Wasureenu Hitobito" (Unforgettable People), Doppo introduced a fresh current into romantic lyrical literature. "Haru no Tori" (Spring Birds), written in 1904, reportedly reached the highest level of romanticism in his era.

Later in his career, through such works as "Kyushi" (A Poor Man’s Death) and "Take no Kido" (The Bamboo Gate), Doppo was highly acclaimed as a naturalistic novelist. He died of tuberculosis in 1908 at the age of 36.

Doppo’s association with Kamakura came in 1902, from February until the end of the year. He first lived in a house in the grounds of Goryo Jinja Shrine (Gongoro Jinja), then moved to a villa within the neighborhood. During his stay in Kamakura, Doppo became acquainted with the critic and novelist, Takayama Chogyu, who was recuperating from an illness within the precincts of Hase Temple nearby.