Kubota Mantaro
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 Kubota Mantarō |
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| Born: | (11 November 1889 Tokyo, Japan |
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| Died: | 6 May 1963 Tokyo, Japan |
| Occupation: | Writer, playwright and poet |
| Genres: | novels, stage plays, haiku |
| Influences: | Kume Masao, Akutagawa Ryunosuke |
Mantaro Kubota (久保田万太郎Kubota Mantarō ?); (11 November 1889 - 6 May 1963) was a Japanese author, playwright and Japanese poet.
Kubota Mantarō was born in the plebian Asakusa district of Tokyo, to a clothing merchant family. He became interested in stage plays at an early age, largely through the influence of his grandmother, who also provided financial support for him to attend college. While still a student at Keio University in 1911, he made his literary debut with the short novel Asagao (Morning Glory, 朝顔) and a stage play Yugi (Game, 末枯), both of which appeared in the university's journal. Starting from 1919, Kubota taught courses in literature at Keio University.
He went on to write many full-length novels, including Tsuyushiba (Dew on the Grass), and Shundei (Spring Thaw), which depicted the joys and sorrows and traditional lifestyle of ordinary people in working-class neighborhoods in old pre-war Tokyo.
In the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923, his home in the Nippori district of Tokyo burned down, and he relocated to nearby Tabuchi, where he made the acquaintance of Akutagawa Ryunosuke.
In 1926, along with the novelist Kume Masao, he joined the Tokyo Central Broadcasting Station (now NHK), and later headed the drama and music department. He greatly contributed to the development of radio broadcast drama in its early stages.
In 1937, together with Kishida Kunio and Iwata Toyoo, Kubota created the Bungakuza theater company and became a leading figure in the modern theater circles in Japan.
Kubota lived in Kamakura, Kanagawa prefecture from 1945-1955. He first moved there when an air raid destroyed his Tokyo home. During those ten years, he made the acquaintance with many of the Kamakura literati as chairman of the Kamakura P.E.N. Club.
In the field of haiku poetry, Kubota came to edit the haiku magazine, Shunto. Although haiku remained merely a hobby, as he was more interested in novels and plays, Kubota published several haiku collections.
Kubota died on 6 May 1963 at the age of 73, of food poisoning, after eating an akagai clam at a party held by Umehara Ryuzaburo (梅原龍三郎 ).
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- Powell, Brian. Japan's Modern Theater. RoutledgeCurzon (2002). ISBN: 1873410301
