Jun'ichirō Tanizaki

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Jun'ichirō Tanizaki (谷崎 潤一郎, Tanizaki Jun'ichirō, 24 July 1886 – 30 July 1965) was a Japanese author who is considered to be one of the most prominent figures in modern Japanese literature. The tone and subject matter of his work ranges from shocking depictions of sexuality and destructive erotic obsessions to subtle portrayals of the dynamics of family life within the context of the rapid changes in 20th-century Japanese society. Frequently, his stories are narrated in the context of a search for cultural identity in which constructions of the West and Japanese tradition are juxtaposed.

He was one of six authors on the final shortlist for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1964, the year before his death.^[1][2]

Biography

Early life

Tanizaki was born into a well-to-do merchant class family in

Despite these financial problems, he attended the

Early literary career

Tanizaki began his literary career in 1909. His first work, a one-act stage play, was published in a

Tanizaki married his first wife, Chiyo Ishikawa, in 1915, and his only child, Ayuko, was born in 1916. However, it was an unhappy marriage, and in time he encouraged a relationship between Chiyo and his friend and fellow writer Haruo Satō. The psychological stress of this situation is reflected in some of his early works, including the stage play Aisureba koso (Because I Love Her, 1921) and the novel Kami to hito no aida (Between Men and the Gods, 1924). Even though some of Tanizaki's writings seem to have been inspired by these and other persons and events in his life, his works are far less autobiographical than those of most of his contemporaries in Japan. Tanizaki later adopted Emiko, the daughter of his third wife, Matsuko Morita.

In 1918, Tanizaki toured

Inspired by the Osaka dialect, Tanizaki wrote Manji (Quicksand, 1928–1929), in which he explored lesbianism, among other themes. This was followed by the classic Tade kuu mushi (Some Prefer Nettles, 1928–29), which depicts the gradual self-discovery of a Tokyo man living near Osaka, in relation to Western-influenced modernization and Japanese tradition. Yoshino kuzu (Arrowroot, 1931) alludes to Bunraku and kabuki theater and other traditional forms even as it adapts a European narrative-within-a-narrative technique. His experimentation with narrative styles continued with Ashikari (The Reed Cutter, 1932), Shunkinsho (A Portrait of Shunkin, 1933), and many other works that combine traditional aesthetics with Tanizaki's particular obsessions.

His renewed interest in classical Japanese literature culminated in his multiple translations into modern Japanese of the eleventh-century classic

Post-war period

After World War II, Tanizaki again emerged into literary prominence, winning a host of awards. Until his death, he was widely regarded as Japan's greatest contemporary author. He won the prestigious Asahi Prize in 1948, was awarded the Order of Culture by the Japanese government in 1949, and in 1964 was elected to honorary membership in the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters, the first Japanese writer to be so honoured.

His first major post-war work was Shōshō Shigemoto no haha (Captain Shigemoto's Mother, 1949–1950), which includes a restatement of Tanizaki's frequent theme of a son's longing for his mother. The novel also introduces a new theme, of sexuality in old age, which reappears in later works such as Kagi (The Key, 1956). Kagi is a psychological novel in which an aging professor arranges for his wife to commit adultery in order to boost his own sagging sexual desires.

Tanizaki returned to Atami in 1950, and was designated a

The Tanizaki Prize is one of Japan's most sought-after literary awards. Established in 1965 by the publishing company Chūō Kōronsha, it is awarded annually to a work of fiction or drama.

Before Haruki Murakami had achieved wide renown, Tanizaki was frequently considered one of the "Big Three" postwar Japanese writers along with Yasunari Kawabata and Yukio Mishima.^[6]

Bibliography

Selected works

Works published in English

• ISBN 0-679-75269-2
• ISBN 0-679-76164-0
• The Key and Diary of a Mad Old Man, tr. Howard Hibbert, Alfred A. Knopf 1960 and 1965 respectively, reissued in a single volume by Vintage Press 2004.
  ISBN 1-4000-7900-4
• Seven Japanese Tales, tr. Howard Hibbett, Alfred A. Knopf 1963.
  ISBN 0-679-76107-1
  Includes "A Portrait of Shunkin," "Terror," "The Bridge of Dreams," "The Tattooer," "The Thief," "Aguri," and "A Blind Man's Tale."
• In Praise of Shadows, tr. Thomas J. Harper and Edward G. Seidensticker, Leete's Island Books 1977, Charles E. Tuttle 1984.
• Naomi, tr. Anthony H. Chambers, Alfred A. Knopf 1985, Vintage Press 2001.
  ISBN 0-375-72474-5
• Childhood Years: A Memoir, tr. Paul McCarthy, Kodansha International 1988.
  ISBN 0-00-654450-9
  . Reissued by the University of Michigan Press, 2017.
• A Cat, a Man, and Two Women, tr. Paul McCarthy, Kodansha International 1990.
  ISBN 4-7700-1605-0
  Reissued by New Directions, 2016. Also includes "The Little Kingdom" and "Professor Rado."
• ISBN 0-375-71931-8
• Quicksand, tr. Howard Hibbett, Alfred A. Knopf 1993, Vintage Press 1995.
  ISBN 0-679-76022-9
• The Reed Cutter and Captain Shigemoto's Mother, tr. Anthony H. Chambers, Alfred A. Knopf 1993.
• Memoir of Forgetting the Capital: Miyakowasure no ki, tr. by Amy V. Heinrich, Foreword by Donald Keene, Yushodo/Columbia University Press, 2010.
• The Gourmet Club: A Sextet, tr. Anthony H. Chambers and Paul McCarthy, Kodansha International 2001.
  ISBN 4-7700-2972-1
  . Reissued by the University of Michigan Press, 2017. Includes "The Children," "The Secret," "The Two Acolytes," "The Gourmet Club," "Mr. Bluemound," and "Manganese Dioxide Dreams."
• Red Roofs and Other Stories, tr. Anthony H. Chambers and Paul McCarthy, University of Michigan Press, 2016. Includes "The Strange Case of Tomoda and Matsunaga," "A Night in Qinhuai," "The Magician," and "Red Roofs."
• Devils in Daylight, tr. by J. Keith Vincent, New Directions, 2017.
• The Maids. tr. by Michael P. Cronin, New Directions, 2017
• "The Jester." tr. by Howard Hibbett. In A Tokyo Anthology: Literature from Japan’s Modern Metropolis, 1850-1915, ed. by Sumie Jones and Charles S. Inouye, pp. 268–280. University of Hawai’i Press, 2017.
• In Black and White, tr. by Phyllis I. Lyons, Columbia University Press (2018).^[7]
• Longing and Other Stories, tr. Anthony H. Chambers and Paul McCarthy, Columbia University Press 2022. Includes "Longing," "Sorrows of a Heretic," and "The Story of an Unhappy Mother."
• The Siren's Lament: Essential Stories, tr. Bryan Karetnyk, Pushkin Press, 2023. Collects three stories: "The Qilin", "Killing O-Tsuya", and, "The Siren's Lament".
  ISBN 9-781-78227809-2

Adaptations

Tanizaki's works have repeatedly been adapted into films:

• Torawakamaru the Koga Ninja (1957)
• Akuto (1965), based on the play Kaoyo
• Sanka (1972), based on the story Shunkinshō

See also

• The Moon in the Water: Understanding Tanizaki, Kawabata, and Mishima

References

1. ^ Nomination Database
2. ^ Four Japanese were nominees for ’64 Nobel literature prize: documents - Japan Times
3. ^ See Bernardi.
4. ^ See Lamarre.
5. ^ Jansen, Marius B. (2000). The Making of Modern Japan, p. 643.
6. ^ Karashima, David (2020-09-23). "When Murakami Came to the States". The Paris Review. Retrieved 2021-09-02.
7. ISSN 0362-4331
   .

Further reading

• Bernardi, Joanne (2001). Writing in Light: The Silent Scenario and the Japanese Pure Film Movement. Wayne State University Press.
  ISBN 0-8143-2926-8
  .
• Bienati, Luisa, and Bonaventura Ruperti, eds. The Grand Old Man and the Great Tradition: Essays on Tanizaki Jun'ichirō in Honor of Adriana Boscaro. University of Michigan Press (2009).
  ISBN 978-1-929280-55-1
• Boscaro, Adriana, et al., eds. Tanizaki in Western Languages: A Bibliography of Translations and Studies. University of Michigan Press (1999).
  ISBN 0-939512-99-8
• Boscaro, Adriana and Anthony Hood Chambers, eds. A Tanizaki Feast: The International Symposium in Venice. University of Michigan Press (1994).
  ISBN 0-939512-90-4
• Chambers, Anthony Hood. The Secret Window: Ideal Worlds in Tanizaki's Fiction.
  ISBN 0-674-79674-8
• Chambers, Anthony Hood. Remembering Tanizaki Jun'ichiro and Matsuko: Diary Entries, Interview Notes, and Letters, 1954-1989. University of Michigan Press (2017).
  ISBN 978-0-472-07365-8
• Gessel, Van C. Three Modern Novelists. Kodansha International (1994).
  ISBN 4-7700-1652-2
• Hibbett, Howard. Tanizaki: Fiction, Fantasy, and Artful Memories. Highmoonoon (2020).
• Ito, Ken Kenneth. Visions of Desire: Tanizaki's Fictional Worlds. Stanford University Press (1991).
  ISBN 0-8047-1869-5
• ISBN 9780674003347; OCLC 44090600
• ISBN 0-231-11435-4
  .
• Lamarre, Thomas (2005). Shadows on the Screen: Tanizaki Junʾichirō on Cinema and "Oriental" Aesthetics. Center for Japanese Studies, University of Michigan.
  ISBN 1-929280-32-7
  .
• Long, Margherita. This Perversion Called Love: Reading Tanizaki, Feminist Theory, and Freud. Stanford University Press (2009).
  ISBN 0804762333

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tanizaki Junichiro.

• Jun'ichirō Tanizaki grave info
• Works by Jun'ichiro Tanizaki at Project Gutenberg
• Works by Jun'ichirō Tanizaki at Open Library
• Works by Jun'ichirō Tanizaki at Aozora
• Jun'ichirō Tanizaki discography at Discogs