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Muraji Uchikimura

うちき むらじ

Uchiki Muraji

ペンネーム: Muraji Uchikimura（Pen name used in literary works）, Tamotsu Utsugi（Birth / legal name）

プロフィール

性別
男性
生誕
1904-04-21 （Osaka Prefecture, Japan）
死没
1990-05-29 （Japan） 86歳
国籍
Japan
言語
Japanese
居住地歴
Osaka Prefecture (birthplace) → Karako Village, Hiki District, Saitama (now Higashimatsuyama) → Tokyo (worked at the Ministry of Finance)

経歴

職業
Novelist, Children's author
活動期間
1930年〜1990年
所属
Farmers' Literature Discussion Group
影響を受けた人物
Yasunari Kawabata
ノミネート
Akutagawa Prize nominee ('Buraku History')

学歴

Waseda University, School of Political Science and Economics
School of Political Science and Economics
国: Japan
Graduated from Waseda University, School of Political Science and Economics. After graduation he worked at the Ministry of Finance, where he met Yasunari Kawabata and entered literary activity.

受賞歴

Akutagawa Prize
1937
対象作品: Buraku History
結果: 候補
Shogakukan Children's Publishing Culture Award
1957
対象作品: Dream Matters
主催: Shogakukan
結果: 受賞
Saitama Cultural Award
1972
主催: Saitama Prefecture
結果: 受賞
Art Encouragement Prize (Minister of Education Award)
1972
対象作品: Garden of Heaven
主催: Agency for Cultural Affairs / Minister of Education
結果: 受賞
Sankei Children's Publishing Culture Award
1973
対象作品: Garden of Heaven
主催: Sankei Shimbun
結果: 受賞
Meritorious Contributor to Children's Culture
1976
結果: 顕彰
Japan Association of Children's Literature Writers Award
1978
対象作品: Garden of the Earth
主催: Japan Association of Children's Literature Writers
結果: 受賞
Order of the Sacred Treasure, Fourth Class
1979
主催: Government of Japan
結果: 叙勲

受賞・候補エディション

作品

代表作

Buraku History

1938年 Novel

A work depicting rural and buraku community life and their struggles under early Showa-era capitalism. It was nominated for the Akutagawa Prize.

rural lifeclasspovertylabor

The Living Mountain Range

1953年 Reportage / Essay

An essayistic work centered on nature and mountain ranges. Later released in paperback.

naturelocal environmentobservation

Dream Matters

1957年 Children's literature

A children's book focused on imagination and growth. Won the Shogakukan Children's Publishing Culture Award.

childrencoming-of-ageimagination

Garden of Heaven

1972年 Children's literature (long work / series)

A large six-part children's series focusing on rural life, nature, and intergenerational relationships. It received the Art Encouragement Prize (Minister of Education Award) and the Sankei Children's Publishing Culture Award.

rural lifenatureintergenerational relationscommunity

Garden of the Earth

1978年 Children's literature (series)

A work corresponding to 'Garden of Heaven', written for young readers with a rural setting. It won the Japan Association of Children's Literature Writers Award.

rural lifetraditioncommunity

Sixteen

1959年 Juvenile / Young adult novel

A novel depicting the feelings of adolescence. Published by Kodansha.

adolescenceconflictpersonal growth

全著作

  • Buraku History
  • Collecting Tributaries
  • People Who Make Light
  • Hannya
  • A Warm History
  • Festival of Nature
  • The Appearance and Plan of Rural Villages
  • Gate of Spring
  • Foxfire and the Sentry
  • Opening the Land: Story of the Manchukuo Volunteer Corps
  • Dairy Farming
  • Goethe: Eternal Giant
  • The Living Mountain Range
  • Michelangelo: Master of the Renaissance
  • This Path of Hope
  • Sixteen
  • A Season in Disarray
  • Stairway of Clouds
  • Garden of Heaven
  • Tunnel of Flowers
  • Garden of the Earth
  • Ninomiya Kinjiro: Sontoku Who Lived for Farming and the Village
  • Collected Works of Muraji Uchikimura

翻案

  • Campaign to adapt 'Garden of Heaven' / 'Garden of the Earth' into an NHK morning drama (Asadora) (Iruma City, from 2018)

作風・主題

文体
peasant literaturesocial realismclear, approachable narrative voice
頻出モチーフ
rural communities and naturecommunity and generational continuitywork and everyday lifechildren's perspective

評価・遺産

A representative writer of peasant literature in the Showa period, acclaimed for works depicting rural communities and the urban lower classes from prewar to postwar years. He was also active in children's literature, later receiving awards for titles such as 'Garden of Heaven' and 'Garden of the Earth'. A literary monument stands in his native area, and Iruma City has campaigned to have his works adapted as an NHK morning drama.

記念館・博物館

  • Karako Central Park Literary Monument (for 'Garden of Heaven') Shimokarako, Higashimatsuyama, Saitama Prefecture, Japan

関連学会

  • Japan Association of Children's Literature Writers

資料所蔵先

  • Iruma City Museum ALIT (holds related local cultural materials)

大衆文化への影響

  • Iruma City's campaign to have 'Garden of Heaven' and 'Garden of the Earth' adapted as an NHK morning drama (Asadora) (from 2018)

豆知識

  • His legal name was Tamotsu Utsugi (打木 保).
  • He was arrested in the 1936 'Com-Academy' incident; the following year he was nominated for the Akutagawa Prize for 'Buraku History'.
  • A monument to 'Garden of Heaven' stands in Karako Central Park in Higashimatsuyama.
  • He died on May 29, 1990, at the age of 86.
  • From around 2018 there has been a local campaign (centered in Iruma City) to have 'Garden of Heaven' and 'Garden of the Earth' adapted into an NHK morning drama (Asadora).