Yasushi Inoue
Yasushi Inoue (1907-1991) was a notable Japanese author recognized for his contributions to literature, particularly in the genres of historical novels and reflections on the human experience. Born in Asahikawa, Japan, and raised by his grandmother in Shizuoka Prefecture, Inoue began writing at a young age, publishing poetry during high school. He later studied philosophy and aesthetics at Kyoto Imperial University and served in the military during the Japanese invasion of China, an experience that sparked a lasting interest in Chinese culture.
Transitioning from journalism to full-time writing in the late 1940s, Inoue produced a significant body of work over four decades, which includes novels and short stories that often explore themes of isolation and the beauty of nature. His most acclaimed works include meticulously researched historical novels like "Aoki okami," which delves into the life of Genghis Khan, and "Koshi," which presents the life of Confucius. Inoue's narratives reflect on various stages of life, as seen in his coming-of-age novel "Shirobamba" and the poignant essays in "Waga haha no ki," detailing his mother's decline into senility. Although he was nominated for the Nobel Prize multiple times, Inoue never won, yet he remains celebrated as one of Japan's greatest postwar writers, admired for his literary prowess and depth of insight into the human condition.
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Yasushi Inoue
Author
- Born: May 6, 1907
- Birthplace: Asahikawa, Hokkaido, Japan
- Died: January 29, 1991
- Place of death: Tokyo, Japan
Biography
Yasushi Inoue was born May 6, 1907, in Asahikawa, Japan. His father, an army surgeon, moved frequently between posts, and Yasushi Inoue was raised by his grandmother in the family’s ancestral home in Yugashima, Shizuoka Prefecture. Married in 1935, he and his wife had four children. Yasushi Inoue’s interests in writing had been sparked in middle school, and in high school he published some of his poems. While attending Kyoto Imperial University, he entered short stories in various popular magazine contests, winning repeatedly. He studied philosophy and aesthetics at the university, and after graduating in 1936, did his military service with the army’s Third Quartermaster Corps during the Japanese invasion of China. From this period grew his lifelong interest in China.
Inoue could have begun a full-time literary career after his university graduation, but instead chose to work as a journalist for the weekly magazine of the Mainichi shinbun newspaper. In 1949, Sato Haruo, a well-known novelist, helped Inoue to publish two short novels in the prominent journal Bungakkai. Within two years, Inoue had left journalism entirely for literary writing. For the next four decades, he was a prolific author, especially of novels and short stories. His works have been translated into English, French, German, and Chinese. Many of his novels and stories deal with ordinary people, often people who are isolated in the midst of life, but they also reflect an enthusiastic attitude and an appreciation of natural beauty.
Inoue is perhaps best known for his meticulously researched historical novels—for example Aoki okami (the blue wolf) of 1960, a novel about Genghis Khan, and Futo (1963), a novel depicting from a Korean perspective the thirteenth century naval expedition of Genghis Khan’s grandson, Kublai Khan, against Japan. Koshi (1989) presents the life of Confucius by combining quotations from the Analects with the fictional narrative of one of Confucius’s disciples, who follows his master through the chaos of central China in the fifth and sixth centuries b.c.e.
Other works of Inoue reflect on the meaning of life in its various stages. Shirobamba (1962) is a coming-of-age novel. Kaseki (fossils) of 1965 is about a middle-aged man confronting cancer and his own mortality. Waga haha no ki (chronicle of my mother) of 1975 is a series of essays written during the ten years that Inoue’s aging mother slipped into senility and, finally, death. Inoue continued working until his death, leaving several projects uncompleted when he died in Tokyo on January 26, 1991. He greatly admired the Japanese winner of the Nobel Prize, Junichiro Tanizaki. Inoue, too, won many awards for his writing and was himself nominated several times for the Nobel Prize. He never won, but his achievements have earned him recognition as one of one of Japan’s greatest writers in the postwar period.