Profile

Gender

Male

Born

1941-08-06 （Amagasaki, Hyōgo, Japan）

Nationality

Japan

Languages

Japanese, English (used for research and lecturing)

Residence History

Amagasaki, Hyōgo, Japan (birthplace) → Tokyo, Japan (long-term residence and base of activity) → New Haven, USA (Yale University; visiting period) → Various visiting research/teaching positions (Yale, Columbia, UC campuses, etc.)

Career

Occupations

Philosopher, Literary scholar, Literary critic, University professor, Translator

Active Years

1966-2025

Affiliations

University of Tokyo, Kokugakuin University, Nippon Medical University, Hosei University, Kinki (Kindai) University, Yale University, Columbia University, University of California (Irvine, UCLA etc.), Cornell University

Memberships

Japan Writers' Association (former member; resigned 1990), Gunzo New Writer's Literary Prize Selection Committee (1977–1999)

Influenced By

Immanuel Kant, Karl Marx, Friedrich Nietzsche, Ferdinand de Saussure, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Jacques Derrida, Sigmund Freud, Jacques Lacan, Kurt Gödel, Gregory Bateson, Douglas Hofstadter, Natsume Sōseki, Kunio Yanagita

Influenced

New Academism (Japanese intellectual movement), Akira Asada, Hiroki Azuma, Koichiro Kokubun, Rintaro Hōzuki, Kazushige Abe, Yusuke Narita, Slavoj Žižek (mutual engagement and influence), Mamoru Hosoda (an example of creators influenced by his thought)

Nominations

'Imi to iu Yamai' (Meaning as Illness) — Candidate for Kamei Katsuichiro Prize (1975), 'Origins of Modern Japanese Literature' — Candidate for Hirabayashi Taiko Literary Prize (1981)

Awards & Nominations

Works

Style & Themes

Literary Style

Interdisciplinary and conceptual proseAbstract, theoretical styleFusion of literary criticism and philosophy

Recurring Motifs

value-form theoryassociation (social ties distinct from state and capital)critique of nation/statemodes of exchange and the structure of world history

Health

• Selective mutism
  幼少期〜小学校低学年
  Had periods of selective mutism in early childhood; Karatani has stated this influenced his relationship to public speech and social interaction.
• Erythrophobia / social blushing anxiety
  青年期以降
  Experienced strong discomfort speaking in public, which he has linked to his turn toward literary and critical work.

Legacy

Kojin Karatani holds a central place in contemporary Japanese thought and literary criticism. Through original concepts such as value-form theory reexamination and 'transcritique', he has influenced political philosophy, literary theory, and world-historical study. His works have been translated into multiple languages and received international recognition.

Quotes

• Young people need not pursue 'literature' as before. While the significance of 'modern literature' remains, please realize something different.

  Source: Lecture 'The End of Modern Literature' (published in Waseda Bungaku, 2004) (2004)

• This is not a prophecy (...).

  Source: Web comment on 9/11 (published on the Critical Space website) (2001)

• "One may consider 'transcritique' not as a negation of deconstruction but as its thoroughgoing elaboration."

  Source: Remarks at the Derrida memorial symposium (Kyoto University, 2004) (2004)

Trivia

• His legal name is Yoshio Karatani (柄谷 善男).
• Though his pen name is often associated with Natsume Sōseki's novel 'Gyōjin', Karatani has said he coined it from the feel of 'kojin'.
• In 1969 he won the Gunzo New Writer's Literary Prize (criticism) for 'Consciousness and Nature', launching his career as a literary critic.
• He was involved in student movements in the 1960s and has identified with leftist and anarchist positions at times.
• A fan of the Hanshin Tigers baseball team; he once formed an amateur baseball team with colleagues.
• Transcritique was published in English by MIT Press and brought him international attention.
• In 2022 he became the first Asian recipient of the Berggruen Prize for Philosophy and Culture.