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AKAMATSU Gessen: (22 March 1897 – 5 August 1997) A poet and Sōtō Zen priest who was acquainted with Satō Haruo. In 1936, he became the head priest of Tōshōji Temple in Okayama.
AKUTAGAWA Ryūnosuke: (1 March 1892 – 24 July 1927) Called the ‘father of the Japanese short story’, his suicide in 1927 propelled the young Dazai into a depression that may have lasted for the rest of his life. He is known outside of Japan for his short stories ‘In a Grove’ and ‘Rashōmon’, which were the primary inspiration for Kurosawa Akira’s 1950 film named after the latter. After his death, the Akutagawa Prize was set up in his honour by Kikuchi Kan in 1935.
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DAN Kazuo: (3 February 1912 – 2 January 1976) A novelist and poet. In 1934 he was one of the contributors to Dazai’s short-lived literary magazine, Aoi Hana. In 1944 he won the Noma Prize, the Naoki Prize in 1950 and the 1975 Yomiuri Prize posthumously. In his eulogy for Dazai, Satō Haruo states that Dan has a kind of “southern-style masculinity”. He is often included as part of the Buraiha, aka the ‘Scoundrel School’.
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André GIDE: (22 November 1869 – 19 February 1951) A French author who published a critical study of Dostoevsky in 1923.
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Hirabayashi Eiko: (23 November 1902 – 17 December 2001) A novelist who was part of the Japan Proletarian Writer’s Union before subsequently joining the Japanese Romantic school. Her husband was the novelist Nakatani Takao.
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IBUSE Masuji: (15 February 1898 – 10 July 1993) A lifelong friend and mentor to Dazai who also introduced him to his second wife, Ishihara Michiko. They corresponded for many years before they finally met in 1930, after Dazai wrote him a letter threatening to kill himself if he didn’t get to see Ibuse while he was in Tokyo. Famously, Dazai called Ibuse an ‘evil man’ in his suicide note, without explaining further. Dazai’s death, and this message, left Ibuse devastated and tormented by guilt. He went on to write over thirty different works about Dazai. In one of these he recounts that the police initally called Dazai and Tomie’s suicide ‘involuntary’ due to signs of a struggle and bruises on Dazai’s neck, which has led to much speculation over the years over how committed Dazai was to his own death.
IKUTA Chōkō: (21 April 1882 – 11 January 1936) A translator, writer and critic whose translations into Japanese include the entire works of Nietzsche, Marx, Homer and Dante’s Divine Comedy.
IMA Uhei: (30 May 1908 – 17 March 1984) Also known as Ima Harube, he was a writer, poet and playwright. He was one of the contributors to Dazai’s short-lived literary magazine, Aoi Hana.
ISHIKAWA Tatsuzō: (2 July 1905 – 31 January 1985) The first winner of the Akutagawa Prize with his short story ‘The People’. In December 1937, he spent time in Nanjing as a war correspondent and was witness to the Nanjing Massacre. His fictionalised report of the incident was censored by the Japanese authorities and led to Ishikawa spending time in prison. He went on to win the Kikuchi Kan Prize in 1969.
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KAWABATA Yasunari: (11 June 1899 – 16 April 1972) A writer known outside of Japan for his Nobel Prize winning novel, Snow Country. He was one of the judges for the Akutagawa Prize.
KIKUCHI Kan: (26 December 1888 – 6 March 1948) An author and playwright who founded the magazine Bungei Shunjū, as well as the prestigious Akutagawa and Naoki Prizes. In 1938 he also set up the Kan Kikuchi Prize, named after himself, that recognised the accomplishments of authors over the age of 45.
KINUMAKI Seizō: (25 February 1900 – 14 August 1978) His story ‘The Instigated Man’ was a finalist for the first Akutagawa Prize alongside ‘Retrogression’. When in Kobe, he studied with Satō Haruo and Inagaki Taruho.
KON Kanichi: (8 December 1909 – 1 March 1983) A novelist who won the Naoki Prize for his book Wallflower. A close friend of Dazai, he named the annual day of celebration that marks Dazai’s birth and death Ōtōki (‘Cherry Memorial’) after Dazai’s final story, ‘Cherry’. It is celebrated every year on 19 June, where large crowds gather to pay their respects at Dazai’s grave.
KUBO Ryūichirō: (13 November 1906 – 23 October 1998) A children’s book author who published under the name Kubo Takashi. He was one of the contributors to Dazai’s short-lived literary magazine, Aoi Hana. In 1983 he published a book called Dazai’s Youth which included letters and diary entries detailing their early friendship.
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NAKAMURA Chihei: (7 February 1908 – 26 February 1963) A novelist and a great admirer of the southern-style literature of Taiwan and his home prefecture of Miyazaki. He first met Dazai in April 1930 at the venue for their Tokyo University entrance exams. Dazai, who had counted on there not being any entrance exams at all for his French Literature programme because he couldn’t speak a lick of French, had to talk his instructor into letting him into the course. The ‘rabbit-like scholar’ mentioned in Retrogression could possibly have been based on Nakamura. Alongside Dazai he was also considered a disciple of Ibuse Masuji. He was nominated for the Akutagawa Prize twice, in 1937 and 1938.
NAKATANI Takao: (1 October 1901 – 7 September 1995) A novelist who was one of the founders of the Japanese Romantic school alongside Satō Haruo. His wife is the novelist Hirabayashi Eiko.
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OYAMA Hatsuyo: (10 March 1912 – 23 July 1944) Dazai Osamu’s common-law wife from 1930 until 1937. In 1931 she became involved in communist activities along with Dazai, and used the pseudonym Kawasaki Sōko to protect her identity. Dazai’s pet name for her was ‘Hatsuko’. While Dazai was undergoing treatment in Musashino hospital, she had an affair with his close friend Kodate Zenshirō, the discovery of which led to their attempted double suicide and divorce.
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SATŌ Haruo: (9 April 1892 – 6 May 1964) A novelist, essayist and poet whose novels featured themes of melancholy and world-weariness. He came from a medical family, and his younger brother was one of the doctors who treated Dazai Osamu. He died of a heart attack while recording a radio programme at his home, with his final recorded words being “My happiness is…”
SATOMI Ton: (14 July 1888 – 21 January 1983) An author who focused on autobiographical works. He encouraged others to live true to their heart via his ‘philosophy of sincerity’. He won the 1940 Kikuchi Kan Prize, and in 1959 was awarded the Order of Culture.
SHIMASAKI Tōson: (25 March 1872 – 22 August 1943) An author and poet active in both the Romantic and Naturalist schools. His 1906 novel The Broken Commandment is considered one of the first I-novels. His most well-known novel outside of Japan is Before the Dawn, a historical novel about the fall of the Tokugawa shogunate.
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TAKAMI Jun: (30 January 1907 – 17 August 1965) His short story ‘Should Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot’ was a finalist for the first Akutagawa Prize. Later in life, he would go on to help establish the Museum of Modern Japanese Literature. After his death, a portion of his estate was used to set up the Takami Jun Prize for poetry.
TAKII Kōsaku: (4 April 1894 – 21 November 1984) A haiku poet, I-novelist and editor of the haiku magazine Kaikō. He was part of the selection committee for the first Akutagawa Prize.
TANAKA Katsumi: (31 August 1911 – 15 January 1992) A poet and historian who specialised in Tang and Song dynasty poetry. He was considered a member of the Japanese romantic school.
TATSUNO Yutaka: (1 March 1888 – 28 February 1964) A translator and professor of modern French literature at Tokyo Imperial University from 1921 to 1948. Included among his students are many famous names, particularly from the fields of literature and literary criticism; Dazai Osamu, Miyoshi Tatsuji, Kobayashi Hideo, Kon Hidemi, and Katō Shūichi.
TONOMURA Shigeru: (23 December 1902 – 28 July 1961) An author famous for writing in the I-novel genre. His short story ‘Grass Raft’ was a finalist for the first Akutagawa Prize alongside ‘Retrogression’. He later went on to win the 1956 Noma Prize and the 1960 Yomiuri Prize.
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YAMAGISHI Gaishi: (16 July 1904 – 7 May 1977) A critic and editor of the literature magazine Academus. He was one of the contributors to Dazai’s short-lived literary magazine, Aoi Hana. When Dazai took his own life in 1948, his wife Michiko lamented that “If Mr Yamagishi had been in Tokyo, Dazai would not have died.”
YAMAMOTO Yūzō: (27 July 1887 – 11 January 1974) A novelist and playwright. In 1945 he established the Japanese Writers Association alongside Akutagawa Ryunosuke and Kikuchi Kan. He was part of the selection committee for the first Akutagawa Prize.
Yobanashi Café 