Kōda Rohan
Kōda Rohan, born Kōda Shigeyuki on August 25, 1867, in Tokyo, was a prominent Japanese writer known for his diverse literary contributions, including fiction, literary criticism, and philosophy. Coming from a samurai family, he experienced a blend of traditional and modern education, excelling early in classical studies before transitioning to Western-oriented institutions. His literary career began in earnest in the 1880s, with his first published work appearing in 1889. Rohan's notable works include the haunting erotic fantasy "Tai dokuro" and the acclaimed short novel "Goju no to," which reflects his unique narrative style that contrasts with the realism prevalent in his era. Throughout his life, he faced personal hardships, including the loss of two wives, and worked various jobs, including as a telegrapher and a novelist for the newspaper Kokkai. Despite being one of Japan's important literary figures, Kōda Rohan's work is noted more for its idealism than for commercial success, making him a complex and intriguing figure in Japanese literature. He passed away from pneumonia on July 30, 1947, leaving behind a legacy that continues to be studied and respected.
On this Page
Subject Terms
Kōda Rohan
Author
- Born: August 25, 1867
- Birthplace: Edo (now Tokyo), Japan
- Died: July 30, 1947
- Place of death: Chiba prefecture, Japan
Biography
Kōda Rohan was the pseudonym of Kōda Shigeyuki, who was born on August, 25, 1867, in the Kanda district of what is now Tokyo, Japan. He was the fourth son and one of eight children of parents of the samurai class living at the Japanese royal court. The child was given the legal name Shigeyuki and, as was customary in his class, a childhood name, Tetsushirō.
Kōda learned the folklore of stars and plants from his grandmother and attended private schools at an early age, studying reading, writing, and classical Chinese texts. In 1875, however, his parents enrolled him in an institution whose Western orientation contrasted sharply with the philosophy of these more traditional schools. This was the Ochanomizu Grade School, where he finished the eight-year program in only four years, graduating in 1879. Kōda attended the Tokyo First Middle School briefly, excelling, as he had in elementary school, in mathematics. However, his family’s straitened circumstances forced him to drop out in 1880. He next enrolled in the Tokyo English School but had to leave it as well. He went on to attend a private school that had been established by Confucian scholar Kikuchi Shōken, where he graduated in 1883 and subsequently enrolled in the School of Telegraph Technology.
In 1895, Kōda married Yamamuro Kimiko, who died in 1910. He married Kodama Yayoko two years later, but she died in 1945.
In 1885, Kōda began work as a telegrapher in the town of Yoichi in distant Hokkaido prefecture but left the position two years later to visit his family. In 1890, he took a position as a novelist with the newspaper Kokkai, where he remained until it ceased publication in 1895. The following year he began reviewing fiction and edited the magazine Shin Shōsetsu. Kōda lectured on Japanese literature at Kyoto Imperial University from 1908 to 1909. He died of pneumonia on July 30, 1947, in Chiba prefecture, Japan.
Kōda had begun writing poetry as early as 1883, but his first published work, Tsuyu dandan, was serialized in a magazine in 1889 and published as a book the following year. Drawing upon a popular Chinese story but set in New York City, it was greeted enthusiastically by critics and marked the author’s first use of his familiar pseudonym. In Japanese culture a “rohan” is a samurai warrior whose lord has died or lost power, thus condemning the warrior to a life of wandering. What would become one of Kōda’s most famous works, the haunting erotic fantasy “Tai dokuro” (1890; “The Encounter with a Skull,” 1895), appeared in 1890. Goju no to (1892; The Pagoda, 1909), is regarded as his best work; it and was serialized in Kokkai in 1891 and published as a book the following year. This short novel dramatizes the construction of a famous temple by an unjustly maligned carpenter.
Kōda’s many and varied works—fiction, literary criticism, philosophy, and science—mark him as one of his country’s most important writers, although he has been more revered than read. His carefully crafted fiction exhibits an idealistic stance at odds with the realistic trends sweeping much of the literary world during his lifetime.