Japanese Literary Awards

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Keita Genji

げんじ けいた

Genji Keita

Aliases: 田中富雄
Pen Names: Haruki Hanada（Early pseudonym used when submitting prize fiction）, Keita Genji（Final pen name used for the majority of his published works）

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1912-04-19 （Toyama City, Toyama Prefecture, Japan）
Died
1985-09-12 （Tsukudomachi, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan） age 73
Nationality
Japan
Languages
Japanese
Residence History
Toyama City (birthplace) → Osaka (worked at Sumitomo) → Shinjuku, Tokyo (residence; place of death)

Career

Occupations
Novelist, Company employee (accounting)
Active Years
1934-1985
Affiliations
Sumitomo Company (Osaka, former employer), Izumi Real Estate (now Sumitomo Real Estate), Japan Writers' Association (accounting officer), Naoki Prize selection committee (1958–1984)
Memberships
Japan Writers' Association, Bunjin Kaigun (Writers' Navy association), Naoki Prize selection committee
Influenced By
Minoru Nakano
Influenced
Postwar popular writers and authors of salaryman fiction

Education

Toyama Commercial School (old system) / Toyama Prefectural Toyama Commercial High School (present)
Commercial studies
Period: 1920年代-1930年
Year of Graduation: 1930
Country: Japan
Former Toyama Commercial School (old system). Now Toyama Prefectural Toyama Commercial High School.

Awards

Sunday Mainichi (popular literature section) Honorable Mention
1935
Work: Asu mo Aozora (Tomorrow's Blue Sky)
Organization: Sunday Mainichi (magazine)
Result: 佳作
Naoki Prize (Naoki Sanjugo Award)
1951
Work: Eigo-ya-san (and others)
Organization: Naoki Prize selection committee
Result: 受賞
Yoshikawa Eiji Literary Prize
1968
Work: Kuchibeni to Kagami (Lipstick and Mirror); Yuurei ni Natta Otoko (The Man Who Became a Ghost)
Organization: Yoshikawa Eiji Prize selection committee
Result: 受賞
Order of the Purple Ribbon (Shiju Hosho)
1976
Organization: Government of Japan
Result: 受章
Order of the Sacred Treasure, Third Class
1982
Organization: Government of Japan
Result: 受章

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Eigo-ya-san (The English Guy)

1951 Short story / Salaryman fiction

A humorous short story about a contract interpreter nicknamed 'Eigo-ya-san' and his interactions with co-workers; draws on Genji's corporate experience at Sumitomo.

salaryman lifeworkplace relationshipshumor

Third-Class Executive

1951 Linked short stories / Salaryman fiction

A collection of linked stories about men who become executives in the postwar corporate world but are less than exemplary; the term 'Third-Class Executive' became widely used.

corporate societysatiregap between promotion and ability
Adaptations
  • [Film] Third-Class Executive / 春原政久 (1952)

Tenjo Daifu (A Great Wind From Heaven)

1956 Novel

One of his novels that humorously depicts the subtleties of salaryman life; adapted into film after publication.

salaryman lifehumorhuman relationships
Adaptations
  • [Film] Tenjo Daifu / 瑞穂春海 (1956)

Teinen Taishoku (Mandatory Retirement)

1963 Novel

A work dealing with mandatory retirement; reflects the author's long experience in corporate employment.

retirementcareer lifeaging and work

Lipstick and Mirror

1970 Short story / Ghost story

One of his later ghost stories: his later work often combined humor with a darker nihilistic undertone.

ghostsblack humorresentment

The Man Who Became a Ghost

1970 Short story / Ghost story

A representative late-period ghost story in which the ghost of a disgruntled salaryman appears.

workplace resentmentghostsblack humor

Bibliography

  • Hope-san
  • Third-Class Executive
  • Eigo-ya-san (The English Guy)
  • Tenjo Daifu
  • Teinen Taishoku (Mandatory Retirement)
  • Lipstick and Mirror
  • The Man Who Became a Ghost
  • Seven Grandchildren
  • Aozora Musume (Blue-Sky Girl)
  • Daughter Among Daughters
  • Teinen Taishoku
  • My Literary Autobiography
  • Complete Works of Keita Genji (43 volumes)

Adaptations

  • Third-Class Executive (1952 film, Toho)
  • Seven Grandchildren (TV adaptation, 1955)
  • Many works adapted to film (over 80 film adaptations)
  • Ie ni Gogo Ari (TV drama adaptation example, 2007)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
humorous, light-touch prosepopular-literature techniques with pathoslater works inclined toward black humor
Recurring Motifs
salaryman lifeworkplace human relationsghosts and supernatural elements (later)

Health

  • Pneumonia with cerebral thrombosis (complication)
    1985（最終罹患）
    Died in 1985 after pneumonia complicated by cerebral thrombosis. Aged 73.

Legacy

One of the leading postwar popular writers and a representative author of salaryman fiction. His works combined humor and pathos, produced many bestsellers, and were frequently adapted to film and television.

Museums

  • Koshi no Kuni Literature Museum Toyama City, Toyama Prefecture, Japan

Academic Societies

  • Japan Writers' Association

Archives

  • Koshi no Kuni Literature Museum archives (holds related materials)

In Popular Culture

  • Numerous film adaptations (mainly in the 1950s–1960s)
  • Several television adaptations (e.g., 'Ie ni Gogo Ari')

Quotes

  • I wonder whether any of my works will be read after my death.
    Source: Waga bundanteki jijoden (My Literary Autobiography) (1975)

Trivia

  • The youngest of seven siblings from Toyama; in childhood he lived mainly with his mother.
  • In his early career he frequently submitted to prize fiction competitions and used various pen names.
  • 'Third-Class Executive' became widely known and was adapted into a hit Toho film.
  • In his later years he wrote many ghost- and yokai-themed stories.
  • Served as a Naoki Prize selection committee member from 1958 to 1984.