Futabatei Shimei facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Futabatei Shimei
|
|
|---|---|
Futabatei Shimei in 1908
|
|
| Born | 4 April 1864 Edo, Japan |
| Died | 10 May 1909 (aged 45) Bay of Bengal |
| Occupation | Writer, translator, literary critic |
| Genre | Short stories, novels, essays |
| Literary movement | Realism |
Futabatei Shimei (二葉亭 四迷, 4 April 1864 – 10 May 1909) was a famous Japanese writer. He was also a translator and a literary critic. This means he wrote about books and helped people understand them. His stories were written in a realist style. This means his stories showed life as it really was, not always perfect or magical. His book The Drifting Cloud (Ukigumo), written in 1887, is often called Japan's first modern novel.
About Futabatei Shimei
Futabatei was born Hasegawa Tatsunosuke in Edo, which is now called Tokyo. He studied Russian at a special school in Tokyo. But he left because he didn't agree with some changes happening there.
Later, a writer named Tsubouchi Shōyō encouraged him. Futabatei then wrote a book called Shōsetsu Sōron in 1886. This book was about how novels should be written. His first novel was Ukigumo. Some people say it was never fully finished. But its realistic style was very important. It inspired many other writers at the time.
Futabatei was very good at Russian. He translated books by famous Russian writers. One of these writers was Ivan Turgenev.
In 1902, Futabatei learned Esperanto while he was in Russia. Esperanto is a language created to help people from different countries talk to each other. When he came back to Japan in 1906, he wrote the first Japanese book to teach Esperanto. It was called Sekaigo.
Futabatei died in 1909 from a sickness called tuberculosis. He was on a ship in the Bay of Bengal. He was coming back from Russia. He had been working there as a special reporter for the Asahi Shimbun newspaper. After he died, his body was cremated. He was buried in Singapore.
Futabatei's pen name, Shimei, has an interesting story. Some people thought it came from his father. They believed his father said "drop dead" when he heard Futabatei wanted to study literature. But Futabatei himself said something different. He said the words "drop dead" were what he heard in his own mind. This happened when he was trying to decide between his dreams of being an artist and needing to earn money.
Futabatei's Books
Novels
- 1887: Ukigumo (浮雲)
- 1906: An Adopted Husband (其面影, Sono Omokage)
- 1907: Heibon (平凡)
Essays
- 1885: Bijutsu no hongi
- 1886: Shōsetsu Sōron (小説総論)
See also
In Spanish: Futabatei Shimei para niños
