Takiji Yuriko Award
2 appearances
-
Edition 10 (1978) award
-
Edition 24 (1992) award
Sei Kubota
くぼた せい
Kubota Sei
Profile
- Gender
- Male
- Born
- 1921-04-15 （Takane (Kita-Koma District), Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan (now Hokuto)）
- Died
- 2004-02-29 age 82
- Nationality
- Japan
- Languages
- Japanese
- Residence History
- Takane, Kita-Koma District, Yamanashi (now Hokuto), Japan → Tokyo, Japan (moved to Tokyo) → Kiyose, Tokyo (worked at a national sanatorium)
Career
- Occupations
- novelist
- Active Years
- 1949-2004
- Affiliations
- New Japan Literary Society, Realism Research Group, Japan Democratic Literary Alliance, Wakamono-za theatre troupe
- Memberships
- New Japan Literary Society, Japan Democratic Literary Alliance
- Influenced By
- , ,
Education
| Institution | Faculty | Department | Degree | Period | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Higher elementary school (completed) | — | — | — | — | Japan |
Higher elementary school (completed)
Country:
Japan
Awards
| Year | Award | Work | Category | Organization | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | Takiji-Yuriko Prize | Plains with Sea Mist | — | — | 受賞 |
| 1992 | Takiji-Yuriko Prize | At the Dawn; Beyond the Iron Bars; On the Exile Island (autobiographical trilogy) | — | — | 受賞 |
Takiji-Yuriko Prize
1978
Work:
Plains with Sea Mist
Result:
受賞
Takiji-Yuriko Prize
1992
Work:
At the Dawn; Beyond the Iron Bars; On the Exile Island (autobiographical trilogy)
Result:
受賞
Awards & Nominations
Works
Major Works
The Sea and the Cranes
1964 novelA novel based on the struggles of contract workers at Nihon Kokan in Kawasaki; it depicts labor movements and factory life in detail.
labor movementindustrial lifesocial conflict
Scramble
1966 novella/novelSet in a town around the Japan Air Self-Defense Force in Hokkaido, depicting how military presence intersects with everyday life.
military and daily lifelocal communitystate and individual
Shakunage Village Diary
1972 documentary-style novelA work focusing on medical activism in a depopulated area, recording issues of rural healthcare and residents' lives.
healthcarerural lifelocal community
White Footbridge
1973 reportage-style novelBased on research into a monthly-installment department store in Shinjuku, Tokyo, it explores consumption and employment issues.
consumer societylaborurban issues
Plains with Sea Mist
1978 novelA novel about pioneering farmers in Hokkaido, portraying rural life and the contradictions of settlement and society.
farmerspioneeringsocial contradictions
At the Dawn
1987 autobiographical novel (part 1)The first part of an autobiographical trilogy based on the author's postwar experiences, depicting life after the war and engagement with literary movements.
postwar experienceliterary movementsindividual and society
Beyond the Iron Bars
1989 autobiographical novel (part 2)The second part of the autobiographical trilogy, depicting wartime internment and experiences of political repression.
internmentpolitical repressionmemory
On the Exile Island
1992 autobiographical novel (part 3)The final part of the autobiographical trilogy, reflecting on life in exile and the lingering effects of war.
exilelegacy of warrecollection
Bibliography
- Confessions of a Party Member
- The Sea and the Cranes
- Fighting North Vietnam
- Scramble
- Harushima Story
- Wind of Dawn
- Shakunage Village Diary
- White Footbridge
- Island of the Dead
- Plains with Sea Mist
- Within the Literary Movement: A Personal Account of Postwar Democratic Literature
- Bridge Inside the Factory
- Truk Island Diary
- At the Dawn
- Beyond the Iron Bars
- My Postwar Literary History
- On the Exile Island
- Fog over the Southern Alps
- Ruins Aflame
- Finkam: US Far East Air Force Supply Command
Style & Themes
- Literary Style
- social realismreportage-based detailed descriptionemphasis on long-form novels
- Recurring Motifs
- workersfarmersmemory of warrural healthcare issues
Legacy
Sei Kubota is regarded as one of the representatives of postwar social-realist literature in Japan, known for works grounded in labor, rural life, and healthcare issues. As a long-serving leader of the Japan Democratic Literary Alliance he influenced literary movements; in 2016 a monument was erected in his native Hokuto, Yamanashi.
Museums
- Monument to Sei Kubota Hokuto, Yamanashi, Japan Opened in 2016
Academic Societies
- New Japan Literary Society
- Japan Democratic Literary Alliance
- Realism Research Group
Trivia
- During the war he was sent to Truk Island (Chuuk) and lived as an exile-prisoner.
- In his youth he was attacked by right-wingers and imprisoned for violating public order laws.
- He received the Takiji-Yuriko Prize twice, in 1978 and 1992.
- A literary monument was erected in Hokuto, Yamanashi in 2016.