Everything about Mori Gai totally explained
; (
17 February,
1862–
8 July,
1922) was a
Japanese
physician, translator,
novelist and
poet.
Gan (1911–13,
The Wild Geese) is considered his major work.
Biography
Early life
Mori was born as Mori Rintarō in
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'd carry on the family tradition; therefore he was sent to attend classes in the
Confucian classics at the domain academy, and took private lessons in
rangaku, and in the
Dutch language.
In 1872, after the
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.
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 Ogai 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 (
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 wasn't 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 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), which is set in 1881 Tokyo and was filmed by
Shiro Toyoda in 1953 as
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, and
Takasebune .
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 von Hartmann.
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. 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, The Dancing Girl)
- Utakata no ki (1890, Foam on the Waves)
- Fumizukai (1891, The Courier)
- Wita sekusuarisu (1909, Vita Sexualis)
- Seinen (1910, Young Men)
- Gan (1911–13, The Wild Geese)
- Okitsu Yagoemon no isho (1912, The Last Testament of Okitsu Yagoemon)
- Sanshō Dayū (1915, Sanshō the Steward)
- Takasebune (1916, The Boat on the Takase River)
- Shibue Chūsai (1916, 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
Japanese Literature Home Page biography
Further Information
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