Japanese Literary Awards

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Muraji Uchikimura

うちき むらじ

Uchiki Muraji

Pen Names: Muraji Uchikimura（Pen name used in literary works）, Tamotsu Utsugi（Birth / legal name）

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1904-04-21 （Osaka Prefecture, Japan）
Died
1990-05-29 （Japan） age 86
Nationality
Japan
Languages
Japanese
Residence History
Osaka Prefecture (birthplace) → Karako Village, Hiki District, Saitama (now Higashimatsuyama) → Tokyo (worked at the Ministry of Finance)

Career

Occupations
Novelist, Children's author
Active Years
1930-1990
Affiliations
Farmers' Literature Discussion Group
Influenced By
Yasunari Kawabata
Nominations
Akutagawa Prize nominee ('Buraku History')

Education

Waseda University, School of Political Science and Economics
School of Political Science and Economics
Country: 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.

Awards

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

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Buraku History

1938 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 Reportage / Essay

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

naturelocal environmentobservation

Dream Matters

1957 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 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 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 Juvenile / Young adult novel

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

adolescenceconflictpersonal growth

Bibliography

  • 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

Adaptations

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

Style & Themes

Literary Style
peasant literaturesocial realismclear, approachable narrative voice
Recurring Motifs
rural communities and naturecommunity and generational continuitywork and everyday lifechildren's perspective

Legacy

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.

Museums

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

Academic Societies

  • Japan Association of Children's Literature Writers

Archives

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

In Popular Culture

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

Trivia

  • 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).