Ozaki Kōyō: Life and Major Works

Born in Shiba, Edo, in 1868; his real name was Tokutarō. His father was the netsuke carver Ozaki Kokusai. With Yamada Bimyō, Ishibashi Shian, and others he founded the literary group Ken'yūsha, launching his career with the coterie journal "Garakuta Bunko." He won recognition with "Ninin Bikuni Iro Zange" ("Two Nuns' Confessions of Passion"), and with his flowing, elegant mixed classical-colloquial style and skillful plotting he built an era shared with Kōda Rohan. He published "Kyara Makura" ("The Aloeswood Pillow"), "San'nin Zuma" ("Three Wives"), and "Tajō Takon" ("Many Feelings, Many Regrets"), and was active as the Yomiuri Shimbun's star writer. He trained many disciples, including Izumi Kyōka, Tokuda Shūsei, Oguri Fuyō, and Yanagawa Shunyō, forming a great literary faction known as the "Kōyō Range." While serializing his late masterpiece "Konjiki Yasha" ("The Golden Demon") in the Yomiuri Shimbun, he died of stomach cancer in 1903 at the age of 35, leaving the work unfinished.