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Shotaro YasuokaJapanese writer
Date of Birth: 30.05.1920
Country:  Japan |
Content:
- Early Life and Education
- University and Early Writing
- Wartime and Illness
- Post-War Recovery and Literary Debut
- Recognition and Literary Career
- Breakthroughs in Health and Personal Life
- International Travel and Diversification
- Religious Conversion and Literary Legacy
Early Life and Education
Yasuo Yasuda was born in Kochi City, Kochi Prefecture, into a family of a military veterinarian. His father's frequent reassignments led to the family's numerous moves, including Chiba, Aomori, and even Seoul, where Yasuda began elementary school in 1927. Each move required him to change schools, which hindered his academic progress and relationships with peers. These childhood experiences of adversity, including illness and social marginalization, became significant motifs in his literary and journalistic works.
Eventually, the family settled in Tokyo for a while, where Yasuda continued to change schools. In 1934, while a high school student living without his father (who had been relocated to Central China and returned to Japan only after the war), Yasuda's poor academic performance led to his temporary expulsion to a Zen Buddhist temple. There, he spent most of his three-year sentence under the discipline of his literature teacher, reading sutras and performing Buddhist rituals. He fell ill with pleurisy and was sent home in January 1936. During this time, his interest in reading blossomed as he became a regular at a nearby cinema and avidly consumed magazines dedicated to film.
University and Early Writing
Despite graduating high school in 1936, Yasuda failed the university entrance exams. He spent the following three years in Tokyo, where he befriended Komao Furuyama, a future writer. Together with Furuyama and others, Yasuda spent his days in the entertainment districts of Ginza and Asakusa. Influenced by the works of Nagai Kafu and Tanizaki, he imitated their bohemian lifestyles. These experiences later became the basis for his novels "Bad Company" (1953) and "Burgeoning Leaves" (1959).
After another failed attempt at university entrance, Yasuda enrolled in preparatory courses for the Faculty of Literature at Keio University in April 1941. He became editor of a student literary magazine, where his first piece, inspired by historical fiction, was published in the same year.
Wartime and Illness
Despite eventually entering Keio University, Yasuda was forced to interrupt his studies in 1944 after failing an exam. He was drafted into the army and sent to Manchuria. A year later, he was hospitalized with pulmonary tuberculosis. The day after his hospitalization, his unit was sent to the Philippines and was completely annihilated in the Battle of Leyte Gulf.
In March 1945, Yasuda was sent back to Japan and was declared unfit for military service at a military hospital in Kanazawa in July. Unable to return home due to the destruction of his Tokyo house and the loss of contact with his family, Yasuda settled in Fujisawa, Kanagawa Prefecture. Sick with tuberculosis of the spine, he was forced to work for the occupation army to avoid starvation.
By 1946, his condition worsened due to constant hunger and deteriorating living conditions. His father's demobilization in the summer brought no improvement, as the former military man was left destitute after Japan's surrender.
Yasuda's fortunes slightly improved in November 1947 when he secured a job as a caretaker for the house of an American occupier.
Post-War Recovery and Literary Debut
Returning to Tokyo, Yasuda resumed his studies at Keio University and graduated from the English Literature Department in 1948. Despite his physical and mental ailments, he attempted to maintain an active life, spending his days with other aspiring writers such as Junnosuke Yoshiyuki and Hiroyuki Agawa, all of whom were later considered key members of the "Third New" generation.
In that same year, Yasuda submitted a 200-page manuscript of his novella to the magazine "Mita Bungaku" but was rejected. In 1949, with his health deteriorating, Yasuda left his job and returned to his home in Fujisawa. His condition was so severe that he was unable to move even in his sleep. An improvement occurred towards the end of the year, allowing Yasuda to start writing again while bedridden. His work from this period included the stories "Dreary Pastime" (1950) and "Cicada" (1950).
Recognition and Literary Career
He gradually established contact with the editors of "Mita Bungaku," who expressed interest in his stories. However, his first publication was delayed due to rumors of the magazine's imminent closure. Yasuda focused on finding employment and was hired as a translator for a textile company.
In 1951, Yasuda's debut story "Glass Slipper" (a revised version of "Cicada") was published in "Mita Bungaku." It was nominated for the Akutagawa Prize and gained critical attention. This work is considered the official start of Yasuda's literary career.
Yasuda started publishing regularly, with new stories appearing in "Mita Bungaku" and "Literary World" in 1952. This year marked a turning point with the long-awaited publications, connections with like-minded writers, and the beginning of his independent life after his parents returned to Kochi.
In 1953, Yasuda received the Akutagawa Prize for his stories "Bad Company" and "Dreary Pastime," published in the journals "Gunzo" and "Shinchō" in the same year. Shortly before his award, he resigned from the textile company to devote himself to writing, which was beginning to garner recognition.
Breakthroughs in Health and Personal Life
At the end of the year, Yasuda's first book, "Bad Company," was published by Bungei Shunjū. His literary success coincided with an improvement in his health: his tuberculosis of the spine was finally cured in 1954, enabling him to discard his corset. That year, Yasuda also married.
His recovery and home life boosted his creativity, marking the start of an exceptionally productive period. This relatively stable period was disrupted by his mother's death in 1957. In an attempt to process their relationship, Yasuda wrote the autobiographical novella "Seascape" in 1959, which was widely acclaimed and won the Noma Prize.
International Travel and Diversification
From 1960 to 1970, Yasuda traveled extensively abroad, including to the United States (where he spent about a year on a Rockefeller Foundation grant), the USSR, and African countries. These travels inspired him to explore the genres of travelogues and essays. Yasuda's tendency towards autobiography organically integrated these forms into his work, blurring the lines between essays and fiction.
During the same decade, Yasuda experimented with other roles: as a screenwriter or member of the crew on documentaries directed by Kon Ichikawa ("Tokyo Olympiad") and Hiroshi Teshigahara ("Motor Psycho," 1966); as a playwright (his play "Afternoon Brissaville" (1969) was staged by Hiroshi Akutagawa in his theater "Gekidanmo"); as a literary critic (e.g., writing extensively on the writer Shiga Naoya); and as a social critic (e.g., in his conversations with Makoto Oda, 1969).
Religious Conversion and Literary Legacy
Like some other members of the "Third New," Yasuda was sympathetic to Christianity and was baptized as a Catholic in 1988, largely influenced by Shusaku Endo.
Over his career, Yasuda received numerous literary awards, including the Noma Prize (1960 and 1989), the Mainichi Prize (1967), the Yomiuri Prize (1975 and 1995), the Imperial Award for Art (1975), the Kawabata Prize (1991), and the Jiro Osaragi Prize (2000). In 2001, he was awarded the Order of Culture for his outstanding contributions to Japanese art.
