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Masuji Ibuse

いぶせ ますじ

Ibuse Masuji

Aliases: 井伏 滿壽二（本名）
Pen Names: Masuji Ibuse（Pen name derived from his love of fishing）

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1898-02-15 （Awane, Kamo Village, Ana District, Hiroshima Prefecture (now Fukuyama, Hiroshima, Japan)）
Died
1993-07-10 （Suginami, Tokyo, Japan (died at Tokyo Eisei Hospital)） age 95
Nationality
Japan
Languages
Japanese
Residence History
Kamo Village (now Fukuyama), Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan → Ogikubo (Suginami, Tokyo), Japan → Kōfu (Suimon-cho, Yamanashi Prefecture), Japan → Innoshima (Mitsunoshō, former Onomichi area), Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan

Career

Occupations
Novelist, Essayist, Translator
Active Years
1923-1993
Affiliations
Member of the Japan Art Academy, Contributor to Bungakukai magazine, Associated with the Asagaya Writers' Village
Memberships
Member, Japan Art Academy, Contributor, Bungakukai magazine
Influenced By
Kajii Kijirō, Iwano Hōmei, Haruo Satō, Seiji Tanizaki
Influenced
Osamu Dazai, Tan Onuma, Tetsurō Miura, Junzō Shōno, Ryūta Iida

Education

Hiroshima Prefectural Fukuyama Middle School (now Fukuyama Seishikan High School)
Country: Japan
Waseda University
Faculty of Letters / Department of French Literature
Period: 1917-1921（中退）
Country: Japan
Entered preparatory school in 1917; joined Faculty of Letters (French literature) in 1919; left in 1921 after a dispute with a professor.
Japan School of Art (Japan School of Fine Arts)
Country: Japan
Attended briefly; dropped out

Awards

Naoki Prize
1938
Work: John Manjiro Drift Record
Result: Winner
Yomiuri Literary Award
1950
Work: Honjitsu Kyūshin (Clinic Closed Today) and others
Category: 小説賞
Organization: Yomiuri Shimbun
Result: Winner
Japan Art Academy Prize
1956
Work: Hyōmin Usaburō
Organization: Japan Art Academy
Result: Winner
Noma Literary Prize
1966
Work: Black Rain
Organization: Noma Cultural Foundation
Result: Winner
Order of Culture
1966
Result: Recipient
Person of Cultural Merit
1966
Result: Recipient
Yomiuri Literary Award
1972
Work: The Forest of Waseda
Category: 随筆紀行賞
Organization: Yomiuri Shimbun
Result: Winner

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

The Salamander

1929 Short story

A short story based on the author's middle-school memories of salamanders kept in a school pond. A representative piece that uses natural description and nostalgia to explore human sensibilities.

nostalgiachildhoodobservation of nature
Translations
  • Translated into English and multiple other languages

John Manjiro Drift Record

1937 Historical novel / Adventure

A historical-adventure novel about the real-life castaway Nakahama Manjirō (John Manjiro). Winner of the 6th Naoki Prize.

castawayseacross-cultural contact
Translations
  • Translated into English and other languages

Clinic Closed Today

1950 Linked short stories / Fiction

A collection of interrelated short stories set in a physician's clinic, depicting local human dramas and wry humor. Serialized and later published; won the Yomiuri Literary Award (Fiction).

medicinehuman dramalocal customs
Adaptations
  • [Film] Clinic Closed Today / 渋谷実
Translations
  • Translated into English, Czech, German, French, etc.

The Inn in Front of the Station

1957 Fiction (human drama)

A human drama set in a small inn by the station, portraying the lives and interactions of its people. One of his representative works adapted to film.

communityworking lifehuman sympathy
Adaptations
  • [Film] The Inn in Front of the Station / 豊田四郎
Translations
  • Translated into English, Korean, Czech, German, French, etc.

Black Rain

1966 Novel (atomic-bomb literature)

A long novel treating Hiroshima's atomic-bomb experience, depicting victims' daily lives and suffering. The work later prompted debate over its use of source diaries.

waratomic bombingmemory and testimonyvictims' perspective
Adaptations
  • [Film] Black Rain / 今村昌平 (1989)
Translations
  • Translated into English, Italian, Chinese, German and many other languages

Ogikubo Fudoki (Ogikubo Chronicle)

1982 Essays / Local chronicle

An essayistic work chronicling memories and customs of Ogikubo; centered on late-life recollections and local description.

localitymemoirregional culture

Bibliography

  • Nightfall and Plum Blossoms
  • Nostalgic Reality
  • The Workroom
  • River
  • Essays
  • Rural Notes
  • A Record of Flight
  • John Manjiro Drift Record
  • Tajinko Village
  • Clinic Closed Today
  • Drifting Usaburō
  • The Inn in Front of the Station
  • Black Rain
  • The Fisherman and Fishing Grounds
  • The Forest of Waseda
  • Ogikubo Fudoki (Ogikubo Chronicle)
  • Notes on the Tea Gathering at Tomo-no-Tsu
  • On Osamu Dazai
  • Keirokushu & Memoirs
  • Notes on Pottery

Adaptations

  • Black Rain — film adaptation directed by Shōhei Imamura (1989)
  • The Inn in Front of the Station — adapted to film by Shiro Toyoda
  • Kashima Ari (Rooms to Let) — adapted to film by Yūzō Kawashima
  • Collection Trip — adapted to film by Noboru Nakamura

Translations by Author

  • Translation of Hugh Lofting's 'Doctor Dolittle' series (12 volumes)

Translations of Works

  • Black Rain — translated into English and numerous other languages
  • The Salamander — translated into English, German, French, Italian, etc.
  • John Manjiro Drift Record — translated into English and other languages
  • Clinic Closed Today — translated into English, Czech, German, French, etc.

Style & Themes

Literary Style
realistic descriptionwry humor and ironyessayistic, understated narrationemphasis on regional/local settingsdocumentary elements in war narratives
Recurring Motifs
fishinghometown and rural landscapesfood and drinkingfarewells and travelwar and its aftermath

Health

  • Pneumonia
    1993-06-24 — 1993-07-10
    Hospitalized urgently and died of pneumonia (age 95)

Legacy

Masuji Ibuse is one of the representative Japanese novelists and essayists of the 20th century. Combining realistic depictions rooted in locality with wry humor, many of his works were adapted for film and translated, leaving a wide influence domestically and abroad. In particular, 'Black Rain' remains a major work of atomic-bomb literature subject to sustained debate and study.

Museums

  • Suginami Local History Museum (hosted Ibuse centennial exhibitions) Suginami, Tokyo, Japan
  • Kanagawa Museum of Modern Literature (hosted 'Ibuse' exhibitions) Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan

Academic Societies

  • Ibuse Masuji Literary Research Association

Archives

  • Kanagawa Museum of Modern Literature (holds materials and exhibitions)
  • National Diet Library (collections of works)

In Popular Culture

  • International recognition from film adaptation of 'Black Rain' (including awards at Cannes Film Festival)
  • Numerous works adapted to film and stage, influencing postwar Japanese cultural memory
  • Anecdotes about his love of shogi and fishing are well known in literary circles

Quotes

  • Life is nothing but farewells
    Source: Translation from Yu Wuling's poem 'Jianjiu' as rendered by Ibuse

Trivia

  • He was a fan of shogi and was awarded an amateur 5-dan certificate by the Japan Shogi Association (honorific recognition).
  • He was an avid angler; his pen name is derived from this hobby.
  • Known as a heavy drinker; in 1976 a literary magazine ranked him as the top 'drinker' of the literary world.
  • He translated children's works such as Hugh Lofting's Doctor Dolittle series into Japanese.