更新日：2010年7月5日

Naoki Sanjugo

Novelist Naoki Sanjugo was born in Osaka in 1891.His real name was Uemura Soichi. He attended the English Literature department of Waseda University in Tokyo but never graduated. Attempts to set up his own publishing business ended in failure and he returned to his native Osaka after the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923. While working at the publishing house Platon (Plato) as an editor of the monthly magazine Kuraku (Joys and Sorrows), he began writing fiction. He later tried his hand at moviemaking but without any success, so he moved back to Tokyo in 1927 to concentrate on writing.

Two years later, he had an historical novel, Yui Kongen Taisakki, serialized in a weekly magazine, and a newspaper serial, Nangoku Taiheiki, published the following year, brought him critical acclaim and established him firmly as a writer of popular fiction.

As for Naoki's pen name, at the age of 31, he began writing critical articles under the name of Sanju-ichi (31), and with each succeeding year, he changed the name to match the year, until he settled for "Sanjugo" (35) in his 35th year.

As well as period pieces such as Araki Mataemon and Odoriko Gyojoki, he also began writing biographies of historical figures, including Kusunoki Masashige, Ashikaga Takauji, and Genkuro Yoshitsune. Naoki also ventured into the realm of contemporary fiction, with Nihon no Senritsu (Japan Shudders), Hikari: Tsumi to Tomoni (Light: With Crime), and others.

Naoki Sanjugo died in 1934 at the age of 43. The following year, on the suggestion of Kikuchi Kan (founder of the Bungei Shunju magazine), Naoki's name was given to an award for popular fiction, the Naoki Prize. Alongside the Akutagawa Prize for new writers, also established at the same time, the two prizes have become the most prestigious literary awards in Japan. Every year, on the anniversary of his death, a memorial service is held at Choshoji Temple, in Yokohama's Kanazawa ward, where his ashes are buried.

Naoki lived in Inamuragasaki from 1928 to 29.