更新日：2010年7月5日

Shimazaki Toson

Shimazaki Toson, poet and novelist, was born in 1872 into a prominent family in Magomejuku, a posting village in Nagano Prefecture. His real name was Shimazaki Haruki. Toson became interested in literature through his friendship with essayist and translator Baba Kocho and Togawa Shukotsu at Meiji Gakuin, the private Protestant college in Tokyo. On graduation, he began to contribute translations to "Jogaku Zasshi" (Magazine of Women’s Learning).

In 1892 Toson began teaching at Meiji Jogakko (Meiji Girls School) and also became one of the founding members of Bungakukai (The Literary World) with Kitamura Tokoku and others, and contributed verse plays, fiction and critiques to the magazine. His first collection of poems "Wakanashu" (Collection of Young Herbs), published in 1897, brought him to the public eye and with subsequent verses, he left his mark on the world of modern poetry.

With his first novel, Hakai (tr The Broken Commandment), published in 1906, he established himself as a proponent of naturalism, and followed this with "Haru" (Spring), "Ie" (tr The Family) and "Yoake Mae" (tr Before the Dawn). His last work was "Toho no Mon" (East Gate). Toson died of brain hemorrhage in 1943; he was 71.

After wandering around the Kansai area for six months in 1893 following an ill-fated love affair with one of his students, Toson spent August at the Kigen-in retreat of Engakuji Temple in Kita Kamakura. He then set off to the Tohoku region, only to return again to Kigen-in and stayed there throughout October. This youthful period is described in his early novel, "Haru."