User:Redfruits/Rintaro Takeda

Rintarō Takeda (武田麟太郎) was a Japanese author and novelist, best known for his short stories about everyday people and his translations of Ihara Saikaku's major works into modern Japanese.

Biography
Rintarō Takeda was born on May 9, 1904 in Ōsaka. He grew up reading such influential authors as Kafū Nagai. After graduating middle school, he went to Kyoto to attend the Third Upper School, during which time he published short pieces in a literary magazine called Mahiru. In 1926, he entered the French literature department of the University of Tokyo, but dropped out to pursue writing for literary magazines.

Takeda initially aligned himself with Marxist ideals and the proletarian literature movement, and this showed in his politically charged early works. However, he became very interested in Ihara Saikaku, which influenced his work from then on. In 1933, he joined authors such as Yasunari Kawabata to establish a literary magazine called Bungakkai. In 1936, he founded his own literary magazine called "Jinmin bunko," which was banned in 1938. He lived in Java during World War II while working as a journalist for the Japanese military.

He died on March 31, 1946 of liver cirrhosis, and was buried at his father's family gravesite in Kurashiki. A literary monument in his honor is located in Osaka.

A few of his works have been translated into English, including Ichi no tori (The First Day of the Fair) and Omokage (The Image).

Major Works

 * 1930: Hangyaku no roretsu (反逆の呂律), Bōryoku (暴力)
 * 1931: Myaku utsu kekkō (脈打つ血行)
 * 1932: Nihon sanmon opera (日本三文オペラ)
 * 1934: Kamagasaki (釜ケ崎), Kanjō (勘定)
 * 1935: Shiseimono (市井事), Ginza hatchō (銀座八丁), Kōshoku no imashime (好色の戒め), Ichi no tori (一の酉)
 * 1936: Wakai kankyō (若い環境)
 * 1937: Fūsoku gojū mētoru (風速五十米)
 * 1938: Sanmyaku (山脈), Sensōji kaiwai (浅草寺界隈), Sekenbanashi (世間ばなし)
 * 1939: Shisei dangi (市井談義), Daikyō no kuji (大凶の籖), Yoimachigusa (宵待草), Asakusa ichidai onna (浅草一代女)
 * 1940: Ikusanga (幾山河), Kaya (蚊帳), Usugeshō (薄化粧), Kanzashi (簪), Omokage (面影)
 * 1941: Shōsetsu sahō (小説作法), Ishizue no hitobito (礎の人々), Yuki no hanashi (雪の話), Tōkyō kanjōsen (東京環状線)
 * 1942: Utsukushii hyōjō (美しい表情)
 * 1946: Yayoi-san (弥生さん), Onna no kankyō (女の環境)

Published posthumously
 * 1946-1948: Takeda Rintarō zenshū (武田麟太郎全集) - his complete works, in 14 volumes
 * 1947: Jōfu (情婦), Daitokai (大都会)
 * 1977: Takeda Rintarō zenshū (武田麟太郎全集) - his complete works, in 3 volumes

Translations

 * 1931: Binnō kumiai F Panvilov (貧農組合 エフ・パンフェロフ)
 * 1938: Gendaigoyaku kokubungaku zenshū dai 21 kan Saikaku meisakushū (現代語訳国文学全集 第21巻 西鶴名作集) - a volume of Saikaku's major works translated into modern Japanese