Nihon Essayist Club Award
1 appearances
-
Edition 4 (1956) award
Isamu Kobayashi
こばやし いさむ
Kobayashi Isamu
Pen Names:
Tosei（Used as a pen name (gō)）
Profile
- Gender
- Male
- Born
- 1903-03-27 （Akaho Village, Kamiina District, Nagano Prefecture (now Komagane City)）
- Died
- 1981-11-20 age 78
- Nationality
- Japan
- Languages
- Japanese
- Residence History
- Akaho (now Komagane), Nagano Prefecture → Tokyo (moved to work at Iwanami Shoten) → Nagasaka (now Hokuto City), Yamanashi Prefecture
Career
- Occupations
- editor, essayist, painter
- Active Years
- 1920-1981
- Affiliations
- Iwanami Shoten, Tettō Shoin, Shinkō Kagakusha, Iwanami Film Production
- Influenced By
- Rohan Koda, Kiyoshi Miki, Tadahiko Terada
Education
| Institution | Faculty | Department | Degree | Period | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Commercial school | — | — | — | 1910s-1920 | Japan |
Commercial school
Period:
1910s-1920
Country:
Japan
Received basic commercial school education; helped with family business after graduation
Awards
| Year | Award | Work | Category | Organization | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1955 | Japan Essayists' Club Prize | Distant Footsteps | — | Japan Essayists' Club | winner |
Japan Essayists' Club Prize
1955
Work:
Distant Footsteps
Organization:
Japan Essayists' Club
Result:
winner
Awards & Nominations
Works
Major Works
Distant Footsteps
1955 essayKobayashi's first collection of essays, containing memoiristic pieces and character sketches.
memoirbiographical sketchesculture
Visiting Kagyuan: Rohan's Later Years
1956 essay / biographical reminiscenceA record of visits and reminiscences about Rohan Koda's later years.
reminiscenceliterary figures
Kokan
1960 essayAn essay collection with observations on daily life and culture.
daily lifecultureobservational prose
A Single Path
1975 essayLate-period essays reflecting on life, work, and nature.
naturelifereminiscence
Bibliography
- Distant Footsteps
- Visiting Kagyuan: Rohan's Later Years
- Kokan
- Essays: Rainy Days
- The Owner of Sekirakuso: A Biography of Shigeo Iwanami
- Essays: Bamboo Shadows
- Red Spider Lily: Memories of Thirty-Three People
- Minokumo: Poetry Collection
- Flames of the Hermit
- Yamanaka Dokuzan
- Essays: Painting and Writing as One
- People Are Lonely
- Essays: Sunset Glow
- A Single Path
- Tosei-an Merriments
- Near the Kitchen
- The Red Bag
Style & Themes
- Literary Style
- essayisticmemoiristicrealistic and lyrical
- Recurring Motifs
- reminiscencebiographical portraits of cultural figuresdepictions of naturepainting and calligraphy
Legacy
A long-serving editor, essayist, and painter who held senior positions at Iwanami Shoten and was active in publishing and the arts. He published notable essay collections, exhibited paintings, and participated in founding the Seishun Shirakaba Art Museum.
Museums
- Seishun Shirakaba Art Museum Nagasaka (now Hokuto City), Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan
Academic Societies
- Japan Essayists' Club
Archives
- Iwanami Shoten related archives
- Umeno Memorial Art Museum (exhibition materials)
Trivia
- He was the son-in-law of Shigeo Iwanami (married his second daughter Sayuri) and served as representative director and chairman of Iwanami Shoten.
- In 1945 he was arrested under suspicion of violating the Peace Preservation Law and subjected to torture, but was released the same year (Yokohama incident).
- Used the pen name 'Tosei' and held numerous solo exhibitions as a painter.
- A commemorative art-and-essay collection was published for his 100th birth anniversary.