Motojirō Kajii

was a Japanese writer in the early Shōwa period known for his poetic short stories. Kajii's works included , . and . His poetic works were praised by fellow writers including Yasunari Kawabata and Yukio Mishima. Today his works are admired for their finely tuned self-observation and descriptive power.

Despite the limited body of work he created during his short lifetime, Kajii has managed to leave a lasting footprint on Japanese culture. "Lemon" is a staple of literature textbooks. According to a report in major daily newspaper Asahi Shimbun, many high school students have emulated the protagonist's defiant act of leaving a lemon in the book section of Maruzen, a department store chain. The opening line of "Under the Cherry Trees" (Dead bodies are buried under the cherry trees!) is popularly quoted in reference to hanami, the Japanese custom of cherry blossom viewing.

Biography

Childhood and education (1901–1924)

Kajii was born in Osaka in 1901. He attended primary school in Tokyo from 1910 to 1911, middle school in Toba from 1911 to 1913, and Osaka Prefectural Kitano High School from 1914 to 1919. In September 1919, Kajii entered Kyoto's Third Higher School (Kyoto-Sanko, a junior college), where his roommate was Tadashi Iijima. While a student there in 1920, he was diagnosed with pulmonary tuberculosis.

Early literary career (1924–1928)

In 1924, Kajii entered Tokyo Imperial University, where he studied English literature. Shortly, he planned for publish a literary coterie magazine , with his friends from high school.

In 1925, was published in Aozora first issue.

After relinquished a graduation, Kajii had been stayed in on the Izu Peninsula between 1927 and 1928, hoping to recuperate. During that time, he visited the writer Yasunari Kawabata, whom he befriended. The two writers would play go together several times a week.

After Aozora ceased publication in 1927, Kajii's works appeared in , another literary coterie magazine.

Late career and death (1928–1932)

In September 1928, Kajii returned to Osaka, where he spent a period of convalescence at home.

Sensing his impending death, friends including the poet Tatsuji Miyoshi and Ryūzō Yodono decided to publish his first book, a collection of his short stories titled Lemon in 1931.

In 1932, he wrote his first novella, titled . Its publication in Chūōkōron, which had commissioned the work, was Kajii's first in the commercial magazine.

On March 24, 1932, Kajii died of tuberculosis at age 31.

Bibliography

Works available in English translation

Monographs

• The Youth of Things: Life and Death in the Age of Kajii Motojiro (2014) - ed. Stephen Dodd ()
• Lemon (2009) - trans. Chinatsu Komori and Kenneth Traynor ()

Anthologies

• "Mating" in The Shōwa Anthology (1984) - eds. Van C. Gessel and Tomone Matsumoto ()
• "Lemon" in The Oxford Book of Japanese Short Stories (1997) - ed. Theodore W. Goossen ()
• "Mire" in Tokyo Stories: A Literary Stroll (2002) - ed. Lawrence Rogers ()
• "Lemon" in The Columbia Anthology of Modern Japanese Literature, Vol. 1 (2005) - eds. J. Thomas Rimer and Van C. Gessel ()
• "The Lemon," "The Ascension of K, or His Death by Drowning," and "Feelings Atop a Cliff" in Modanizumu; Modernist Fiction from Japan, 1913-1938 - ed. William Jefferson Tyler ()
• "Scenes of the Mind" in Three-Dimensional Reading: Stories of Time and Space in Japanese Modernist Fiction, 1911-1932 - ed. Angela Yiu ()

Literary magazines

• "Beneath the Cherry Trees" tr. John Bester in The Japan P.E.N. News (1964)
• "A Musical Derangement" tr. Stephen Wechselblatt in New Orleans Review (1983)
• "The Ascension/Drowning of K" and "Lemon" with introduction "Translating Kajii Motojiro" tr. Alfred Birnbaum in The Literary Review (1996)
• "Under the Cherry Blossoms" tr. Bonnie Huie in The Brooklyn Rail (2014)

Scholarly works

• Kajii Motojiro: An Anthology of Short Stories Translated into English (1977)
• Three Stories of Kajii Motojiro: A Study and Translation (1978)
• The Private World of Kajii Motojiro (1982)
• The Translator as Reader and Writer: English Versions of Japanese Short Fiction by Kajii Motojiro (1982)

Miscellaneous amateur translations on Internet (see external links below).

Translations into other languages

• French: Le citron (1987, 1996) – partial translation of Remon (stories #1,8,9,10,11,13,16,18)
• Russian: Limon (2004) – full translation of Remon (stories #1–18)
• German: Bildrolle der Finsternis (2023) – partial translation of Remon (stories #1,2,10,11,15,18,20)

List of works in original Japanese

Stories in magazines

1. - May 1923
2. - July 1923
3. – January 1925
4. - February 1925
5. - July 1925
6. - October 1925
7. - November 1925
8. - January 1926
9. - June 1926
10. - July 1926
11. - August 1926
12. - October 1926
13. - February, April 1927
14. - March 1928
15. – April 1928
16. – May 1928
17. – May 1928
18. – July 1928
19. – December 1928
20. – June 1930
21. – September 1930
22. – January 1931
23. – January 1932, novella

(Unpublished or unfinished works included in Complete Works are not listed above.)

Books

• – May 1931, collection (stories #1–18)
• : -- posthumously --
• – 1934 (ed. Takao Nakatani, RyÅ«zō Yodono) Rokuhō Shoin
• – 1947 (ed. RyÅ«zō Yodono) Kyoto: Kōtō Shoin
• – 1948 (ed. RyÅ«zō Yodono) Kyoto: Kōtō Shoin
• – 1955, selected correspondence. 1955 (ed. RyÅ«zō Yodono) Kadokawa Shoten
• – 1959 (ed. RyÅ«zō Yodono, Takao Nakatani) Tokyo: Chikuma Shobō. Reprinted in 1966.
• – 1999-2000 (ed. Sadami Suzuki) Tokyo: Chikuma Shobō

See also

• Japanese literature
• List of Japanese authors

References

Sources consulted

• Kajii, Motojiro (stories); Kodoma de Larroche, Christine (translation, introduction). 1996. Le citron : nouvelles (second partial French translation of Remon). Picquier poche. Arles, France: P. Picquier. : pp. 7–22 (short biography). [First printed as: Kajii, Motojiro (stories); Kodoma de Larroche, Christine (translation, introduction). 1987. Les cercles d'un regard : le monde de Kajii Motojirô (first partial French translation of Remon). Bibliothèque de l'Institut des hautes études japonaises. Paris, France: Maisonneuve et Larose. .]
• Matsuoka, Tatsuya. 2005. "An Encounter with Kajii Motojiro" (English version of his Japanese notice). JLLP (Japanese Literature Publishing Project). Tokyo, Japan: Japanese Literature Publishing and Promotion Center (Agency for Cultural Affairs of Japan). Internet page (snapshot at WebCite).

Endnotes

External links

General reference

• A complete list of stories by Kajii (with literal English and Romaji titles) at Griffe – World's Literature
• J'Lit | Authors : Motojiro Kajii | Books from Japan
• Matsusaka Castle Ruins, "The scenery which Kajii Motojiro loved" – the basis for "In a Castle Town"
• Audiobook in Japanese (mp3)
• Motojiro Kajii's grave

Translations available online (includes amateur translations)

• "An Inner Landscape" (tr. Tony Gonzalez)
• "Beneath the Cherry Trees" (tr. Morgan Giles)
• "Blue Sky" (tr. Morgan Giles)
• "Caress" (tr. Ursula Owen)
• "The Feeling on the Bluff" text and annotated Word format (tr. Ursula Owen)
• "Lemon" plus a comment (tr. C Seu)
• "A Musical Derangement" (tr. Stephen Wechselblatt) in New Orleans Review (Summer/Fall 1983 Issue)
• "Under the Cherry Blossoms" (tr. Bonnie Huie) at The Brooklyn Rail
• "Bildrolle der Finsternis" (tr. Alexander Specht)

Reviews

• A short English review of the French partial edition of Remon in Bohème Magazine (July 2004)