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Shūgorō Yamamoto

やまもと しゅうごろう

Yamamoto Shugorō

Pen Names: Tawaraya Sōhachi（One of his early pen names）, Yokonishi Gorō（Alternative pen name）, Shimizu Kiyoshi（Another pseudonym used）, Fufutei Ichimei（Another pen name）

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1903-06-22 （Hatsukari Village, Kitatsuru District, Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan (now Ōtsuki City)）
Died
1967-02-14 （Annex of the Mamon-en inn, Honmoku Mamon, Naka Ward, Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan） age 63
Nationality
Japan
Languages
Japanese
Residence History
Hatsukari Village, Kitatsuru District, Yamanashi (now Ōtsuki City) → Toyoshima (former Ōji Town), Kita, Tokyo → Yokohama (Kubomachi, Honmoku), Kanagawa → Urayasu, Chiba (period of residence) → Kobe, Hyōgo (worked as an editor/journalist)

Career

Occupations
Novelist, Magazine journalist, Editor
Active Years
1926-1967
Affiliations
Teikoku Koshinsho (now Teikoku Databank), Kodansha (contributor to magazines), Hobunkan (published some works)
Influenced By
Johan August Strindberg, Gerhart Hauptmann, Lev Tolstoy, William Saroyan, Raymond Chandler (influence suggested by commentators)
Influenced
Akira Kurosawa (influenced via film adaptations), Masahiro Shinoda (critic/director who commented on his work), Kenji Misumi (film director who adapted his works), Takashi Miike (modern adaptations / reinterpretations)

Education

Yokohama Municipal Nishimae Elementary School
Period: 〜1916年
Year of Graduation: 1916
Country: Japan
After elementary school he became an apprentice at a pawnbroker.
Shosei English School (predecessor of Shosei Gakuen High School)
Period: 在籍期間不明
Country: Japan
Attended with support from his employer; exact graduation year unknown.

Awards

Naoki Prize (Naoki Sanjūgo Prize)
1943
Work: Nihon Fudōki
Organization: Naoki Prize selection committee
Result: 辞退
Mainichi Publishing Culture Award
1959
Work: Momi no Ki wa Nokotta (The Fir Tree Remains)
Organization: Mainichi Newspapers
Result: 辞退
Bungeishunjū Readers' Award
1961
Work: Aobeka Monogatari
Organization: Bungeishunjū
Result: 辞退

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Near Suma Temple

1926 Short fiction

A debut short story published in Bungeishunjū's prize selection; it became his breakout work.

debutliterary breakthrough

Nihon Fudōki

1942 Linked short stories (series)

A linked series portraying women from various domains serialized in 'Fujin Kurabu'. It was selected for the 17th Naoki Prize but was declined by the author.

portrayals of womenhistorical settingshuman compassion

Momi no Ki wa Nokotta (The Fir Tree Remains)

1954 Historical novel / Period novel

A long historical novel based on the Date Disturbance; one of his representative works depicting samurai dilemmas and the pathos of ordinary people.

loyaltyduty and compassionreinterpreting history
Adaptations
  • [Film] Aoba-jō no Oni / 三隅研次 (1962)
  • [TV (Taiga drama)] Momi no Ki wa Nokotta (NHK Taiga Drama) / NHK（脚本: 茂木草介） (1970)
Translations
  • Momi no Ki wa Nokotta (The Fir Tree Remains)

Akahige Shinryōtan (Red Beard: Medical Tales)

1958 Fiction (medical / human drama)

A collection focusing on medical practice and human compassion. It served as the basis for Akira Kurosawa's film 'Red Beard'.

medical practicehuman compassionredemption
Adaptations
  • [Film] Red Beard / 黒澤明 (1965)
Translations
  • Red Beard (selected stories)

Aobeka Monogatari

1960 Fiction (town life / human drama)

A human drama set in a fishing-town environment; Yamamoto's residence in Urayasu influenced this work.

ordinary peoplechange and nostalgia
Adaptations
  • [Film] Aobeka Monogatari / 川島雄三 (1962)

A Town Without Seasons

1962 Fiction

A work portraying facets of urban life and human relationships; one of his notable 1960s pieces.

urban lifelonelinesshuman relationships
Adaptations
  • [Film] Dodesukaden (based on A Town Without Seasons) / 黒澤明（脚色ほか） (1970)

Sabu

1963 Fiction (human drama)

A novel focusing on nameless drifters and townspeople to depict human compassion; adapted into films and stage plays.

driftershuman compassionforgiveness
Adaptations
  • [Film] Sabu / 野村孝 (1964)

Nagai Saka (Long Slope)

1966 Fiction

One of his later long-form works, centering on human drama.

life's uphill struggleshuman compassion
Adaptations
  • [TV] Nagai Saka (TV drama) (1968)

Bibliography

  • Hirono no Rakujitsu
  • Meiwa Ekoyomi
  • Fūun Kainan-ki
  • Nihon Fudōki
  • Shinchō-ki
  • Yanagibashi Monogatari
  • Neboke Shochō
  • Rakuten Tabinikki
  • Yamabiko Otome
  • Fūryū Taiheiki
  • Momi no Ki wa Nokotta
  • Akahige Shinryōtan
  • Tenchi Seidai
  • Goban no Tsubaki
  • Hikozamon Gaiki
  • Aobeka Monogatari
  • A Town Without Seasons
  • Sabu
  • Kokū Henreki
  • Nagai Saka

Adaptations

  • Red Beard (film, 1965; dir. Akira Kurosawa)
  • Sanjuro / Tsubaki Sanjūrō (film, 1962; dir. Akira Kurosawa) — based on Yamamoto's story '日日平安'
  • Aobeka Monogatari (film, 1962; dir. Yūzō Kawashima)
  • Sabu (film, 1964; dir. Takao Nomura)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Period and historical fiction grounded in popular-literature narrative styleConcise, reader-oriented narrationAllegorical/ideational elements in human depiction
Recurring Motifs
pathos of ordinary peopleduty and compassionlives of nameless peoplesearch for the sacred

Health

  • Chronic use of sleeping medication (Adorm)
    長年（具体期間不明、代表作執筆前年まで常用していた記述あり）
    Reportedly affected sleep and health during creative periods; concerns about dependence have been noted.
  • Hepatitis and heart weakness (cause of death)
    1967年2月（急性）
    Died in February 1967 from hepatitis and cardiac weakness (at Mamon-en annex).

Legacy

He secured a wide readership through period and historical fiction; many of his works were adapted for film, television and stage. In 1988 the Yamamoto Shūgorō Prize was established in his honor. His influence endures through continued adaptations and critical study.

Museums

  • Shūgorō Yamamoto Works Museum Exact location information not specified (related materials/exhibitions held in multiple institutions)
  • Yamanashi Prefectural Literature Museum (holds exhibitions on Yamamoto) Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan

In Popular Culture

  • Red Beard (film, 1965; dir. Akira Kurosawa)
  • Sanjuro (film, 1962; dir. Akira Kurosawa) — based in part on Yamamoto's 'Hibi Heian'
  • Dodesukaden (film, 1970; dir. Akira Kurosawa) — uses elements from 'A Town Without Seasons' and other works

Quotes

  • If something is interesting, it is interesting; if it is dull, it is dull.
    Source: Collected remarks / essays (various sources)

Trivia

  • His legal name was Shimizu Satomu (清水 三十六).
  • He was chosen for the 17th Naoki Prize for 'Nihon Fudōki' but declined — an exceptional case in the prize's history.
  • Reportedly smoked about 60 cigarettes a day.
  • Preferred wine and whisky, and enjoyed Western-style dishes and cheese.
  • The Yamamoto Shūgorō Prize was established in 1988 in his honor.