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小林多喜二 1903-10-13 – 1933-02-20 日本語版へ

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Biography

Born in 1903 in Shimokawazoi village, Kita-Akita District, Akita Prefecture, into a poor farming family. He moved with his family to Otaru, Hokkaido. After graduating from Otaru Higher Commercial School (now Otaru University of Commerce), he worked at the Otaru branch of the Hokkaido Takushoku Bank while writing fiction. His short story "15 March 1928" (Ichi-kyū-ni-hachi-nen Sangatsu Jūgo-nichi) appeared in the magazine "Senki" (Battle Flag) in 1928, and "The Crab Cannery Ship" (Kanikōsen) in 1929 made him an instantly notable representative of proletarian literature. The same year his "Absentee Landlord" (Fuzai Jinushi) cost him his bank job, and he moved to Tokyo to become a full-time activist for the All-Japan Federation of Proletarian Arts (NAPF), joining the Japanese Communist Party. In 1933 he was arrested by the Special Higher Police (Tokkō) and tortured to death at Tsukiji Police Station at age 29. His death shocked Japan and abroad, and he became a symbolic figure of postwar proletarian, labor, and social-realist literature. "The Crab Cannery Ship" was rediscovered after the 2008 financial crisis and became a bestseller among young readers.

Publication Venues (5 venues)Click to filter works by venue

Selected Works (15 works recorded in Aozora Bunko)

  • 一九二八年三月十五日 (March 15, 1928) (1928)
  • 蟹工船 (The Crab Cannery Ship) (1929)
  • 不在地主 (Fuzai Jinushi) (1929)
  • 独房 (Dokubō) (1931)
  • 母たち (Haha Tachi) (1931)
  • テガミ (Tegami) (—)
  • 争われない事実 (Arasowa Re nai Jijitsu) (—)
  • 人を殺す犬 (Hito o Korosu Inu) (—)
  • 党生活者 (Tō Seikatsu Sha) (—)
  • 北海道の「俊寛」 (Hokkaidō no Shunkan) (—)
  • 父帰る (Chichi Kaeru) (—)
  • 疵 (Kizu) (—)
  • 級長の願い (Kyūchō no Negai) (—)
  • 防雪林 (Bōsetsu Rin) (—)
  • 雪の夜 (Yuki no Yoru) (—)

References