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Soichi Oya

おおや そういち

Oya Soichi

Pen Names: Sarutori Tetsu（Pen name used for postwar writings）

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1900-09-13 （Tomita Village, Mishima District, Osaka Prefecture (now Tomita, Takatsuki City, Osaka, Japan)）
Died
1970-11-22 （Tokyo Women's Medical University Hospital, Kawada-cho, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan） age 70
Nationality
Japan
Languages
Japanese
Residence History
Tomita, Osaka (now Tomita, Takatsuki City) → Yoshida area, Kyoto → Shimo-Ochiai / Shinjuku, Tokyo (residence and base of activities) → Kamakura (Zuisen-ji Temple, gravesite)

Career

Occupations
Journalist, Non-fiction writer, Critic, Editor
Active Years
1922-1970
Affiliations
Shinchosha (Shincho Publishing), Jikkyoku Shinbun (served as editorial advisor), Non-Fiction Club, Oya Mass Media School (Oya Soichi Tokyo Mass Media School), Oya Soichi Library (Oya Bunko)
Memberships
All-Japan Proletarian Arts Federation (NAPP)
Influenced By
Toyohiko Kagawa, Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin
Influenced
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Education

Third Higher School (prewar)
Degree: 卒業
Period: 1919-1922
Year of Graduation: 1922
Country: Japan
Pre-war higher school (preparatory for university); subsequently entered Tokyo Imperial University.
Tokyo Imperial University (Faculty of Letters)
Faculty of Letters / Department of Sociology
Period: 1922 - 中退
Country: Japan
Did not complete degree; left the university during studies.

Awards

Kikuchi Kan Prize
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Japan's Testament

1950 Biographical novel / biographical study

A biographical novel about Fumimaro Konoe; published postwar and attracted attention for its portrait and critique.

Prewar and wartime politicsPower and responsibility

Showa Monster Biographies

1957 Biographical essays / social criticism

A collection of essays portraying notable figures of the Showa era with critical commentary.

Portraits of figuresAnalysis of postwar society

Seishun Nikki (Youth Diary)

Autobiography / diary

An autobiographical diary recounting youthful years; later reprinted and included in collected editions.

AutobiographyMemories of student life

Sunday Commentaries (serial)

1965 Commentary / columns

A column series in 'Sunday Mainichi' (1965–1970) offering sharp commentary on domestic and international events.

Current affairs commentaryMedia observation

Bibliography

  • Selected Works of Soichi Oya (12 vols, Chikuma Shobo)
  • The Books of Soichi Oya (8 vols, Sankei Shimbun Publishing)
  • Soichi Oya: Individualistic Person – My View of Life 10 (Daiwa Shobo)
  • Selected Essays of Soichi Oya: The Thought of Non-Thought (Bungeishunju)
  • The Essence of Soichi Oya (6 vols, Kodansha)
  • Complete Works of Soichi Oya (30 vols, Soyo-sha et al.)
  • Sunday Commentaries — Edited Reissue (Rokka Publishing, limited edition)

Adaptations

  • One Thousand and One Nights (1969 film) — voice appearance
  • White and Black (1963) — special appearance as himself

Translations by Author

  • One Thousand and One Nights (continued a new translation of the Burton edition)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Sharp observation of social trendsWitty, decisive commentaryNon-fiction style incorporating gossip and social reportage
Recurring Motifs
Media criticismObservation of popular customs and mannersScathing critique of religion and hypocrisy

Health

  • Heart-related illness / hypertension-related issues
    1970年（晩年）
    Reportedly died in November 1970 from heart-related illness (associated with blood pressure issues).
  • Lumbar / back injury (hip bone injury from a fall)
    1967年（東南アジア旅行中の転倒）
    Sustained temporary injury but continued translation and writing work thereafter.

Legacy

Soichi Oya contributed significantly to Japanese journalism and non-fiction across prewar and postwar periods. He trained many journalists, and his legacy includes the establishment of the Oya Soichi Non-Fiction Award and the Oya Soichi Library, which have continued to preserve materials and foster new writers.

Museums

  • Oya Soichi Library (archive/library) Tokyo (exact address referenced in institutional sources)

Academic Societies

  • Non-Fiction Club
  • Oya Mass Media School

Archives

  • Oya Soichi Library (personal collection and journalism archives)

In Popular Culture

  • The coinage 'ichoku-sou-hakuchika' ('national mass idiocy') has been widely cited in debates about media in Japan.
  • Graduates of the Oya Mass Media School and his disciples have left a marked influence on postwar Japanese journalism.

Quotes

  • Television programs are all vulgar; at this rate the whole nation will become idiotic.
    Source: Column in Weekly Tokyo (September 1956) (1956)
  • He described the Cultural Revolution as a 'jarikakumei' (a 'juvenile / junk revolution'), criticizing how young Red Guards were manipulated by those in power.
    Source: Sunday Mainichi column series 'Sunday Commentaries' (late 1960s)

Trivia

  • After the war he resumed writing under the pen name 'Sarutori Tetsu'.
  • He coined (or popularized) the phrase 'ichoku-sou-hakuchika' ('national mass idiocy') in 1956, which became a notable media-critique term.
  • The Oya Soichi Non-Fiction Award was established after his death in his honor.
  • In 1967 he founded the Oya Soichi Tokyo Mass Media School, training many journalists.