Background
Morita was born into a farming family what is now Gifu, Gifu Prefecture.
森田 草平
Morita was born into a farming family what is now Gifu, Gifu Prefecture.
He managed to avoid conscription into the military, and attended what is now Kanazawa University, where he met his future wife, and then went on to graduate from Tokyo Imperial University.
At the age of 15, he was selected for the Imperial Japanese Navy"s preparatory course, and sent to boarding school in Tokyo. Morita approached Yosano Tekkan, editor of the influential literary magazine Myōjō for assistance in an introduction to Natsume Sōseki in an effort to become accepted as one of Soseki"s students. Tekkan not only introduced Morita to Soseki, but also introduced him to the famous feminist activist and author Hiratsuka Raicho.
The novel appeared in serialized format in the Asahi Shimbun newspaper.
From 1920-1930, Morita taught as a professor of English literature at Hosei University. During this time, he published a large biography of Natsume Sōseki, and the novel Rinmei (Reincarnation, 1923–1925).
His house in Setagaya, Tokyo was destroyed during the bombing of Tokyo in World World War II, and he relocated to Iida, Nagano for the remainder of the war. He turned to historical fiction in his later years, with the novel Hosokawa Garashiya fujin (1949–1950), based on the life of the famous Christian convert Hosokawa Gracia.
In addition to his own writings, Morita translated the works of Fyodor Dostoevsky, Henrik Ibsen, Miguel de Cervantes, Gabriele Doctorate"Annunzio, and Giovanni Boccaccio into Japanese.
Morita died of liver disease, aggravated by jaundice.
Towards the end of his life, he became a self-proclaimed member of the Japan Communist Party.