Mori Ōgai
190438
225791590
2008-07-15T12:34:06Z
Kairaiseiken
7446243
/* External links */ japanese short story writer category
{{Japanese name|Mori}}
[[Image:Mori Ogai statue in Tsuwano.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Mori Ōgai's statue at his birthhouse in [[Tsuwano]]]]
'''{{nihongo|Mori Ōgai |森 鷗外 / 森 鴎外|}};''' ([[17 February]], [[1862]]–[[8 July]], [[1922]]) was a [[Japan]]ese [[physician]], translator, [[novelist]] and [[poet]]. ''Gan'' (1911–13, ''[[The Wild Geese (novel)|The Wild Geese]]'') is considered his major work.
==Biography==
===Early life===
Mori was born as Mori Rintarō in [[Tsuwano, Shimane|Tsuwano]], [[Iwami province]] (present-day [[Shimane prefecture]]). His family were hereditary physicians to the ''[[daimyo]]'' of the [[Tsuwano Domain]]. As the eldest son, it was assumed that he would carry on the family tradition; therefore he was sent to attend classes in the [[Confucianism|Confucian classics]] at the domain academy, and took private lessons in ''[[rangaku]],'' and in the [[Dutch language]].
In 1872, after the [[abolition of the han system|abolition of the domains]], the Mori family relocated to [[Tokyo]]. Mori stayed at the residence of [[Nishi Amane]], in order to receive tutoring in the [[German language]], which was the primary language for medical education at the time. In 1874, he was admitted to the government medical school (the predecessor for [[Tokyo Imperial University]]'s Medical School), and graduated in 1881 at the age of 19, the youngest person ever to be awarded with a medical license in Japan. It was also during this time that he developed an interest in literature, reading extensively from the late-Edo period popular novels, and taking lessons in [[Chinese poetry]] and literature.
===Early career===
After graduation, Mori enlisted in the [[Imperial Japanese Army]] as a medical officer, hoping to specialize in military medicine and [[hygiene]].
[[Image:Ogai Mori.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Mori Ōgai in uniform]]
Mori was sent by the Army to study in [[Germany]] ([[Leipzig]], [[Dresden]], [[Munich]], and [[Berlin]]) from 1884–1888. During this time, he also developed an interest in [[European literature]]. As a matter of trivia, Mori Ōgai is the first Japanese known to have ridden on the [[Orient Express]].
Upon his return to Japan, he assumed a high rank as a medical doctor in the Japanese army and pushed for a more scientific approach to medical research, even publishing a [[medical journal]] out of his own funds.
Meanwhile, he also attempted to revitalize modern [[Japanese literature]] and published his own [[literary journal]] (Shigarami sōshi, 1889–1894) and his own book of poetry (''Omokage'', 1889). In his writings, he was an “anti-realist”, asserting that literature should reflect the emotional and spiritual domain. ''Maihime'' ({{lang|ja|舞姫}}, ''[[The Dancing Girl]]'', 1890) described an affair between a Japanese man and a German woman.
In 1899, he married Akamatsu Toshiko, daughter of Admiral [[Akamatsu Noriyoshi]], a close friend of [[Nishi Amane]]. He divorced her the following year under acrimonious circumstances that irreparably ended his friendship with Nishi.
===Later career===
At the start of the [[First Sino-Japanese War]] of 1894–1895, Mori was sent to [[Manchuria]] and, the following year, to [[Taiwan]]. In 1899, he was appointed head of the Army Medical Corps and was based in [[Kokura]], [[Kyūshū]]. In 1902, he was reassigned to Tokyo.
During the [[Russo-Japanese War]] of 1904–1905, he was again sent to Manchuria. He later came under criticism for his stubborn refusal to believe that [[beriberi]] was not an infectious disease but an ailment caused by [[thiamine]] deficiency, despite evidence presented by [[Takaki Kanehiro]] of the [[Imperial Japanese Navy]]. His questionable decisions led to the death of 27,000 Japanese soldiers to beriberi, compared to 47,000 deaths from combat.
In 1907, Mori was promoted to Army Surgeon-General, the highest post within the Japanese medical corps. On his retirement in 1916 he was appointed director of the Imperial Museum.
===Literary career===
Although Mori did little writing from 1892–1902, he continued to edit a literary journal (Mezamashi gusa, 1892–1909). He also produced translations of the works of [[Goethe]], [[Schiller]], [[Ibsen]], [[Hans Christian Andersen]], and [[Hauptmann]].
It was during the [[Russo-Japanese War]] (1904–05) that Mori started keeping a poetic diary. After the war, he began holding [[Tanka (poetry)|tanka]] writing parties that included several noted poets such as [[Yosano Akiko]].
His later works can be divided into three separate periods. From 1909–1912, he wrote mostly fiction based on his own experiences. This period includes ''[[Vita Sexualis]]'', and his most popular novel, ''Gan'' (1911–13; ''[[The Wild Geese (novel)|The Wild Geese]]''), which is set in 1881 Tokyo and was filmed by [[Shiro Toyoda]] in 1953 as ''[[The Mistress (film)|The Mistress]]''.
From 1912–1916, he wrote mostly historical stories. Deeply affected by the ''[[seppuku]]'' of General [[Nogi Maresuke]] in 1912, he explored the impulses of self-destruction, self–sacrifice and patriotic sentiment. This period includes ''Sanshō Dayū'' ({{lang|ja|山椒大夫}}), and ''Takasebune'' ({{lang|ja|高瀬舟}}).
From 1916, he turned his attention to biographies of late [[Edo period]] doctors.
==Legacy==
As an author, Mori is considered one of the leading writers of the [[Meiji period]]. In his literary journals, he instituted modern [[literary criticism]] in Japan, based on the aesthetic theories of [[Karl Robert Eduard von Hartmann|Karl von Hartmann]].
[[Image:Mori Ogai in Kokura.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Mori Ōgai's statue at his house in [[Kokura Kita]] ward, [[Kitakyushu]]]]
A house which Mori lived in is preserved in [[Kokura Kita ward]] in [[Kitakyushu]], not far from [[Kokura station]]. Here he wrote ''[[Kokura Nikki]]'' ([[Kokura]] diary). His birthhouse is also preserved in [[Tsuwano-cho|Tsuwano]]. The two one-story houses are remarkably similar in size and in their traditional Japanese style.
One of Mori's daughters, [[Mori Mari]], influenced the [[Yaoi]] movement in contemporary Japanese literature.
==Selected works==
* ''Maihime'' (1890, {{lang|ja|舞姫}} ''[[The Dancing Girl]]'')
*''Utakata no ki'' (1890, {{lang|ja|うたかたの記}} ''Foam on the Waves'')
*''Fumizukai'' (1891, {{lang|ja|文づかひ}} ''The Courier'')
*''Wita sekusuarisu'' (1909, {{lang|ja|ヰタ・セクスアリス}} ''[[Vita Sexualis]]'')
*''Seinen'' (1910, {{lang|ja|青年}} Young Men)
*''Gan'' (1911–13, {{lang|ja|雁}} ''[[The Wild Geese (novel)|The Wild Geese]]'')
*''Okitsu Yagoemon no isho'' (1912, {{lang|ja|興津弥五右衛門の遺書}} ''The Last Testament of Okitsu Yagoemon'')
*''Sanshō Dayū'' (1915, {{lang|ja|山椒大夫}} Sanshō the Steward)
*''Takasebune'' (1916, {{lang|ja|高瀬舟}} ''The Boat on the Takase River'')
*''Shibue Chūsai'' (1916, {{lang|ja|渋江抽斎}} Shibue Chusai)
==Translations==
* ''The Historical Fiction of Mori Ôgai'', ed. David A. Dilworth and J. Thomas Rimer. 1977. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1991. A one-volume paperback edition of an earlier two-volume collection of stories.
* ''Modern Japanese Stories: An Anthology'', ed. Ivan Morris. 1961. Rutland, Vt.: Charles E. Tuttle, 1966. Contains "Under Reconstruction."
* ''Sansho-Dayu and Other Short Stories'', trans. Tsutomu Fukuda. Tokyo: Hokuseido Press, 1970.
* ''Vita Sexualis'', trans. Kazuji Ninomiya and Sanford Goldstein. 1972. Boston: Tuttle Publishing, 200.
* ''The Wild Geese'', trans. Ochiai Kingo and Sanford Goldstein. Boston: Tuttle Publishing, 1959.
* ''The Wild Goose'', trans. Burton Watson. 1995. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Center for Japanese Studies, 1998.
* ''Youth and Other Stories'' (collection of stories), ed. J. Thomas Rimer. 1994. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1995
==Source==
*[http://www.f.waseda.jp/mjewel/jlit/authors_works/modernlit/mori_ogai.html Japanese Literature Home Page biography]
==See also==
*[[Kokura]]
== External links ==
{{commons|Mori Ogai|Mori Ōgai}}
* [http://www.ndl.go.jp/portrait/e/datas/342.html?c=25 Mori, Ogai] | [http://www.ndl.go.jp/portrait/e/index.html Portraits of Modern Japanese Historical Figures] ([[National Diet Library]])
* [http://www.aozora.gr.jp/index_pages/person129.html#sakuhin_list_1 e-texts of Mori Ōgai 's works] at [[Aozora bunko]]
* [http://www.horror-house.jp/e/cat4/ogai-mori-18621922.html Ogai Mori's grave]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mori, Ogai}}
[[Category:1862 births]]
[[Category:1922 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Shimane Prefecture]]
[[Category:Japanese novelists]]
[[Category:Japanese poets]]
[[Category:Japanese short story writers]]
[[Category:Japanese physicians]]
[[Category:Military physicians]]
[[Category:People from Kitakyūshū]]
[[Category:People in Meiji period Japan]]
[[Category:People of the Russo-Japanese War]]
[[Category:People of the First Sino-Japanese War]]
[[Category:University of Tokyo alumni]]
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