Hakuchō Masamune

Who was Hakuchō Masamune?

Hakuchō Masamune, a pseudonym of Tadao Masamune was a noted Japanese critic, novelist, and dramatist, and a leading member of the Japanese Naturalist school of literature.

Masamune was born in Bizen, Okayama as the eldest son, where his birthplace is now a museum. In 1896 he joined the English department of the Tokyo Senmon Gakko. He was baptized as a Christian by priest Uemura Masahisa in 1897. After graduation, he worked in the university's Publishing Department, then in 1903 began writing literary, art, and cultural criticism for the Yomiuri Shinbun newspaper. In 1904 he published his first novel, Sekibaku, in the Shinshosetsu literary magazine, Jin’ai in 1907, and gained attention with a naturalist novel, Doko-e, published in serial form in Waseda bungaku through 1908. He left the newspaper in 1910 to become a full-time author, and in 1911 his novel Doro ningyō gained further acclaim.

Although Masamune is perhaps most remembered for his criticism, he wrote a variety of works throughout his career, including short stories, dramas, and literary criticism. Major novels include Ushibeya no nioi and Shisha seisha; his best known plays are perhaps Jinsei no kōfuku and Tenshi hokaku; and outstanding examples of his criticism include Bundan jimbutsu hyōron, Shisō mushisō, Bundanteki jijoden, Sakka ron, Shizenshugi seisuishi, and Uchimura Kanzō.