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]] [[de:Mori Ōgai]] [[es:Mori Ōgai]] [[fr:Ōgai Mori]] [[id:Mori Ōgai]] [[it:Ōgai Mori]] [[ja:森鴎外]] [[fi:Mori Ōgai]] [[sv:Mori Ōgai]] [[vi:Mori Ōgai]] [[zh:森鷗外]]