author
Takeo Arishima
1878–1923
Known for blending intense inner conflict with sharp social feeling, this Japanese writer helped give modern literature a more personal, searching voice. His best-known work, A Certain Woman, and his strong humanitarian concerns still make him a striking figure today.
1 Audiobook
Deklaracio
by Takeo Arishima
About the author
Born in Tokyo in 1878, Takeo Arishima came from an accomplished and well-connected family. He studied at Gakushuin and later at Sapporo Agricultural College, where he converted to Christianity. He went on to become a novelist, short-story writer, and essayist in the late Meiji and Taishō periods.
Arishima was associated with the influential Shirakaba circle and became known for writing that joined emotional honesty with moral and social questions. Encyclopaedia Britannica notes that he was especially known for A Certain Woman (1919) and for his strong humanitarian views. His background in a privileged family, along with his concern for inequality, shaped much of his work and outlook.
His life ended in 1923 in Karuizawa, when he died at age 45. Though his career was relatively short, he remains an important voice in modern Japanese literature for the seriousness of his ideas and the personal intensity of his fiction.