Shoken Kamitsukasa

1874 (age 73)

Nara, Japan, Japan

With his education limited to primary schools at Osaka, Shoken Kamitsukasa became an assistant teacher of a primary school after his father died (1893). Abandoning the teaching profession he came to Tokyo and joined the editorial staff of Ycmiuri Shim bun (1897) and stayed to become chief editor of its Literary Section till his retirement (1916). In between, Shoken Kamitsukasa slowly began gaining reputation as a novelist till his novel "The Skin of an Eel", published in "Hototogisu" (a haiku magazine) shot him to fame (1914). At first his novels abounded in local colors based on life in Osaka, but later his writing showed traces of socialistic thought in which he began criticizing the defects of society.

Shoken Kamitsukasa