Background
Takii Kosaku was born on April 4, 1894 in Takayama, Gifu, Japan. His father was a cabinetmaker. At age 13, Takii lost his mother and two brothers, and was forced to go work in the city's fish markets.
孝作 滝井
Takii Kosaku was born on April 4, 1894 in Takayama, Gifu, Japan. His father was a cabinetmaker. At age 13, Takii lost his mother and two brothers, and was forced to go work in the city's fish markets.
Takii was a disciple of Naoya Shiga.
In 1909, at age 15, Takii met haiku poet Kawahigashi Hekigotō and decided to devote his life to poetry.
He moved to Tokyo in 1914, where he worked as editor of the haiku magazine Kaikō (Sea Crimson), and was an occasional student at Waseda University. Under the influence of Naoya Shiga, he began publishing fiction in 1919. That same year, he married a prostitute with whom he lived until her death in 1922. His celebrated novel, Mugen Hōyō (The Infinite Embrace), written as four stories in the years 1921-1924, recounts their relationship.
Following Shiga, Takii moved to Abiko, Chiba, in 1922, then Kyoto in 1923 and Nara in 1925. In 1930 he struck off with his second wife for Hachiōji, her home town, and during World War II worked for the army. All the while he continued to publish essays and stories. Takii was a member of the judging committee of the Akutagawa Prize and the author of several outstanding novels.