| Kuriyagawa Hakuson | |
|---|---|
Kuriyagawa Hakuson |
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| Born | 19 November 1880 Kyoto Japan |
| Died | 2 September 1923 (aged 42) Kamakura, Kanagawa Japan |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Genres | literary criticism |
Kuriyagawa Hakuson (廚川 白村, 19 November 1880 - 2 September 1923) was the pen-name of a Japanese literary critic, active in Taishō period Japan. His real name was Kuriyagawa Tatsuo.
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Kuriyagawa Hakuson was born in Kyoto. He graduated from Tokyo Imperial University, where he had studied under Koizumi Yakumo and Natsume Sōseki, and later became a professor at Kumamoto University and Kyoto Imperial University. He lectured on 19th century Western literature, and criticized traditional Japanese writing on naturalism and romanticism. His writings include: Kindai bungaku jukko ("Ten Aspects of Modern Literature", 1912), Zoge no to o dete ("Leave the Ivory Tower!", 1920) and Kindai no ren-aikan ("Modern Views on Love", 1922).
In Kindai no ren-aikan Hakuson regarded "love marriage" (renai kekkon) to be a practice indicating an advanced nation and society, as opposed to the practice of arranged marriage, which was more commonly practiced in Japan at the time.
He was killed by a tsunami, which swept away his cottage near the beach in Kamakura, Kanagawa prefecture, during the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923.