Motojirō Kajii

Motojirō Kajii (梶井 基次郎) was a Japanese writer in the early Shōwa period known for his poetic short stories. Kajii's works included Remon (檸檬), "Shiro no aru machi nite" (城のある町にて). Fuyu no hi (冬の日) and Sakura no ki no shita ni wa (櫻の樹の下には). His poetic works were praised by fellow writers including Yasunari Kawabata and Yukio Mishima. Today his works are admired for their finely tuned self-observation and descriptive power.

Despite the limited body of work he created during his short lifetime, Kajii has managed to leave a lasting footprint on Japanese culture. "Lemon" is a staple of literature textbooks. According to a report in major daily newspaper Asahi Shimbun, many high school students have emulated the protagonist's defiant act of leaving a lemon in the book section of Maruzen, a department store chain. The opening line of "Under the Cherry Trees" (Dead bodies are buried under the cherry trees!) is popularly quoted in reference to hanami, the Japanese custom of cherry blossom viewing.

Childhood and education (1901–1924)
Kajii was born in Osaka in 1901. He attended primary school in Tokyo from 1910 to 1911, middle school in Toba from 1911 to 1913, and Osaka Prefectural Kitano High School from 1914 to 1919. In September 1919, Kajii entered Kyoto's Third Higher School (Kyoto-Sanko, a junior college), where his roommate was Tadashi Iijima. While a student there in 1920, he was diagnosed with pulmonary tuberculosis.

Early literary career (1924–1928)
In 1924, Kajii entered Tokyo Imperial University, where he studied English literature. Shortly, he planned for publish a literary coterie magazine Aozora (青空), with his friends from high school.

In 1925, Remon (檸檬) was published in Aozora first issue.

After relinquished a graduation, Kajii had been stayed in Yugasima (湯ヶ島) on the Izu Peninsula between 1927 and 1928, hoping to recuperate. During that time, he visited the writer Yasunari Kawabata, whom he befriended. The two writers would play go together several times a week.

After Aozora ceased publication in 1927, Kajii's works appeared in Bungei Toshi (文藝都市), another literary coterie magazine.

Late career and death (1928–1932)
In September 1928, Kajii returned to Osaka, where he spent a period of convalescence at home.

Sensing his impending death, friends including the poet Tatsuji Miyoshi and Ryūzō Yodono decided to publish his first book, a collection of his short stories titled Lemon in 1931.

In 1932, he wrote his first novella, titled Nonki na kanja (のんきな患者). Its publication in Chūōkōron, which had commissioned the work, was Kajii's first in the commercial magazine.

On March 24, 1932, Kajii died of tuberculosis at age 31.

Works available in English translation
Monographs Anthologies Literary magazines Scholarly works Miscellaneous amateur translations on Internet (see external links below).
 * The Youth of Things: Life and Death in the Age of Kajii Motojiro (2014) - ed. Stephen Dodd (ISBN 978-0824838409)
 * Lemon (2009) - trans. Chinatsu Komori and Kenneth Traynor (ISBN 978-0982438411)
 * "Mating" in The Shōwa Anthology (1984) - eds. Van C. Gessel and Tomone Matsumoto (ISBN 978-4770017086)
 * "Lemon" in The Oxford Book of Japanese Short Stories (1997) - ed. Theodore W. Goossen (ISBN 978-0199583195)
 * "Mire" in Tokyo Stories: A Literary Stroll (2002) - ed. Lawrence Rogers (ISBN 978-0520217881)
 * "Lemon" in The Columbia Anthology of Modern Japanese Literature, Vol. 1 (2005) - eds. J. Thomas Rimer and Van C. Gessel (ISBN 978-0231118613)
 * "The Lemon," "The Ascension of K, or His Death by Drowning," and "Feelings Atop a Cliff" in Modanizumu; Modernist Fiction from Japan, 1913-1938 - ed. William Jefferson Tyler (ISBN 978-0824832421)
 * "Scenes of the Mind" in Three-Dimensional Reading: Stories of Time and Space in Japanese Modernist Fiction, 1911-1932 - ed. Angela Yiu (ISBN 978-0824838010)
 * "Beneath the Cherry Trees" tr. John Bester in The Japan P.E.N. News (1964)
 * "A Musical Derangement" tr. Stephen Wechselblatt in New Orleans Review (1983)
 * "The Ascension/Drowning of K" and "Lemon" with introduction "Translating Kajii Motojiro" tr. Alfred Birnbaum in The Literary Review (1996)
 * "Under the Cherry Blossoms" tr. Bonnie Huie in The Brooklyn Rail (2014)
 * Kajii Motojiro: An Anthology of Short Stories Translated into English (1977)
 * Three Stories of Kajii Motojiro: A Study and Translation (1978)
 * The Private World of Kajii Motojiro (1982)
 * The Translator as Reader and Writer: English Versions of Japanese Short Fiction by Kajii Motojiro (1982)

Translations into other languages 


 * French: Le citron (1987, 1996) – partial translation of Remon (stories #1,8,9,10,11,13,16,18)
 * Russian: Limon (2004) – full translation of Remon (stories #1–18)
 * German: Bildrolle der Finsternis (2023) – partial translation of Remon (stories #1,2,10,11,15,18,20)

List of works in original Japanese
Stories in magazines
 * 1) "Keikichi" (奎吉) - May 1923
 * 2) "Mujun no yōna shinjitsu" (矛盾の様な真実) - July 1923
 * 3) Remon (檸檬) – January 1925
 * 4) "Shiro no aru machi nite" (城のある町にて) - February 1925
 * 5) "Deinei" (泥濘) - July 1925
 * 6) "Rojō" (路上)  - October 1925
 * 7) "Tochi no hana" (橡の花) - November 1925
 * 8) "Kako" (過古) - January 1926
 * 9) "Setsugo" (雪後) - June 1926
 * 10) "Kawabata Yasunari Dai-yon tanpen-shū Shinjū wo shudai to seru variation" (川端康成第四短篇集「心中」を主題とせるヴァリエイシヨン) - July 1926
 * 11) "Aru kokoro no fūkei" (ある心の風景) - August 1926
 * 12) "K no shōten – aruiwa K no dekishi" (Kの昇天 – 或はKの溺死) - October 1926
 * 13) Fuyu no hi (冬の日) - February, April 1927
 * 14) "Sōkyū" (蒼穹) - March 1928
 * 15) "Kakei no hanashi" (筧の話) – April 1928
 * 16) "Kigakuteki-genkaku" (器樂的幻覺) – May 1928
 * 17) "Fuyu no hae" (冬の蠅) – May 1928
 * 18) "Aru gake-ue no kanjō" (ある崖上の感情) – July 1928
 * 19) Sakura no ki no shita ni wa (櫻の樹の下には) – December 1928
 * 20) "Aibu" (愛撫) – June 1930
 * 21) "Yami no emaki" (闇の繪巻) – September 1930
 * 22) "Kōbi" (交尾) – January 1931
 * 23) Nonnki na kanja (のんきな患者) – January 1932, novella

(Unpublished or unfinished works included in Complete Works are not listed above.)

Books
 * Remon (檸檬) – May 1931, collection (stories #1–18)
 * -- posthumously --
 * Kajii Motojirō zenshū (Jōge-kan) (梶井基次郎全集 (上・下巻)) – 1934 (ed. Takao Nakatani, Ryūzō Yodono) Rokuhō Shoin
 * Kajii Motojirō zenshū (Dai 1-kan) (梶井基次郎全集 (第1卷)) – 1947 (ed. Ryūzō Yodono) Kyoto: Kōtō Shoin
 * Kajii Motojirō zenshū (Dai 2-kan) (梶井基次郎全集 (第2卷)) – 1948 (ed. Ryūzō Yodono) Kyoto: Kōtō Shoin
 * "Wakaki shijin no tegami" (若き詩人の手紙) – 1955, selected correspondence. 1955 (ed. Ryūzō Yodono) Kadokawa Shoten
 * Kettei-ban Kajii Motojirō zenshū (Zen 3-kan) (決定版 梶井基次郎全集 (全3卷)) – 1959 (ed. Ryūzō Yodono, Takao Nakatani) Tokyo: Chikuma Shobō. Reprinted in 1966.
 * Kajii Motojirō zenshū (Zen 3-kan＋Bekkan) (梶井基次郎全集 (全3卷＋別巻)) – 1999-2000 (ed. Sadami Suzuki) Tokyo: Chikuma Shobō