- Tsubouchi Shōyō
__NoTOC__Tsubouchi Shōyō (坪内 逍遥) (
May 22 ,1859 -February 28 ,1935 ) was aJapanese author ,critic ,playwright ,translator , editor,educator , andprofessor atWaseda University . He was born Tsubouchi Yūzō, inGifu prefecture . He also used thepen name Harunoya Oboro.His book of criticism, "Shōsetsu Shinzui" (The Essence of the Novel), helped free novels and dramas from the low opinion that the Japanese had of such literature. Tsubouchi's writings on realism in literature influenced
Masaoka Shiki 's ideas about realism inhaiku . Tsubouchi's novel, "Tōsei Shosei Kishitsu" (Portraits of Contemporary Students), was one of the earliest modern novels in Japan.His
Kabuki play "Kiri Hitoha" (A Paulownia Leaf) was influenced by his studies of both the famous Kabuki andJōruri (puppet theater) dramatistChikamatsu Monzaemon andShakespeare . The play, in turn, influenced modern Kabuki. He also did a complete translation of the plays ofShakespeare , written in the old-fashion language of Kabuki.His modern play, "Shinkyoku Urashima", incorporating traditional dance and music, was a popular and critical success. The play was a retelling of a familiar Japanese
folk-tale with aRip Van Winkle -like protagonist.Besides Shakespeare, he also translated a number of other works from English into Japanese, including
Sir Walter Scott 's "The Bride of Lammer" and Bulwer-Lytton's novel "Riezi, the Last of the Roman Tribunes".Tsubouchi founded and edited the periodical "Waseda Bungaku" (Waseda Literature), which published from 1891 to 1898. Tsubouchi is also noted for the long running ronsō (literary dispute) that he carried on with
Mori Ōgai .Works
Criticism
*"Shōsetsu Shinzui" (The Essence of the Novel) (1885)
Novel
*"Tōsei Shosei Kishitsu" (Portraits of Contemporary Students) (1885)
*"Saikun" (1889)Kabuki Plays
*"Kiri Hitoha" (A Paulownia Leaf) written 1894-5, and performed in 1904
*"Maki no Kata" (1896)
*"Hototogisu Kojō no Rakugetsu" (The Sinking Moon over the Lonely Castle Where the Cuckoo Cries) (1897)Modern Dramas
*"Shinkyoku Urashima" (The New Urashima) (1904)
*"En no Gyōja" (En the Ascetic) (1916)ee also
*
Futabatei Shimei
*Japanese literature
*Hagiwara Hiromichi --worksExternal links
* [http://www.ndl.go.jp/portrait/e/datas/293.html?c=0 Tsubouchi, Shoyo] at
National Diet Library ,Japan
* [http://www.aozora.gr.jp/index_pages/person141.html#sakuhin_list_1 e-texts of Shoyo's works] atAozora bunko
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