Kōda Rohan

Who was Kōda Rohan?

Kōda Shigeyuki who used the pen name Kōda Rohan was a Japanese author in the Meiji period. His daughter, Aya Kōda, was also a noted author who often wrote about him.

Kōda wrote "The Icon of Liberty", also known as "The Buddha of Art" or "The Elegant Buddha", in 1889. A house in which Kōda lived was rebuilt in 1972 by the Meiji Mura museum. Kōda was one of the first persons to be awarded the Order of Culture when it was established in 1937.