Jun Etō | |
|---|---|
 Etō in 1965 | |
| Born | (1932-12-25)25 December 1932 Tokyo Japan |
| Died | 21 July 1999(1999-07-21) (aged 66) Kamakura, Kanagawa Japan |
| Occupation | Writer, literary critic |
| Genre | Literary criticism |
Atsuo Egashira (江頭 淳夫,Egashira Atsuo; 25 December 1932 – 21 July 1999), known by hispen nameJun Etō (江藤 淳,Etō Jun), was a Japanese writer andliterary critic active in theShōwa and earlyHeisei periods.
Etō was born in theShinjuku district ofTokyo; his father was a banker, and his grandfather (originally fromSaga inKyūshū) was anadmiral in theImperial Japanese Navy. His mother died when he was four years old, and always sickly as a child, he was mostly educated at home. He had an interest in literature from an early age, ranging from the heavy works ofJun'ichirō Tanizaki andFyodor Dostoevsky, to the comics ofSuihō Tagawa. In 1942, he was sent to boarding school inKamakura,Kanagawa prefecture. While in Kamakura, his family's house in Tokyo was destroyed during theAmerican air raids.
In the immediate postwar era, he went to high school inFujisawa,Kanagawa prefecture, where he developed a friendship with future Tokyo governorShintaro Ishihara, who was one year ahead of him. He later returned to Tokyo, and eventually graduated fromKeio University with a degree inEnglish literature. Etō moved from Kamakura to theIchigaya neighborhood in central Tokyo in 1948, returning to live in Kamakura from 1980 to his death.
Although hired as a professor at theTokyo Institute of Technology, Etō devoted most of his time and efforts into literature, and published his first work,Natsume Sōseki ron (1955), a critique of the famous Japanese writerNatsume Sōseki, which won theNoma Literary Prize and theKikuchi Kan Prize. He followed this withDorei no shisō wo haisu (1958) andSakka ha kōdō suru (1959), in which he argued that a writer's style was directly related to his personal behavior and background.[1]
In 1958, Etō joined a group of young, left-wing writers, artists and composers to form the "Young Japan Society" (Wakai Nihon no Kai) for the purpose of protesting a draconian Police Duties Bill introduced by conservative prime ministerNobusuke Kishi that would have authorized police use of warrantless searches and seizures against left-wing activists.[2] Etō and the Young Japan Society later participated in the massiveAnpo protests against Kishi's effort to revise theU.S.-Japan Security Treaty from 1959 to 1960.[3]
In 1962, he publishedKobayashi Hideo ronshū, in which he dared to write a critique on the famousliterary criticKobayashi Hideo. This work was awarded the Shichosha Literary Prize. Shortly afterwards, he departed for the United States for two years, for advanced studies atPrinceton University at the invitation of theRockefeller Foundation.
Other works includeIchizoku saikai (1967–1972) in which he attempted to trace his family roots and at the same time, the roots of theJapanese people.
Etō was a very prolific author, and his books and essays ranged fromliterary criticism and to postwarpolitical commentary; through taking controversial viewpoints, he also established himself as one of foremost public intellectuals in the print and television. He was initially a prominent member of the movement against theTreaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security between the United States and Japan, establishing the "Young Japan Society" with like-minded writers and intellectuals, although he later reversed his position after a revised version of the treaty was ratified, accusing his former colleagues of "intellectual bankruptcy" and of confusing politics with morality.[4]
Etō especially drew controversy during the mid-1960s when he produced a series of essays after his return from Princeton, which indicated a shift to thefar right end of the political spectrum. He was highly critical of the policies of theAmerican occupation, which he felt had destroyed or subverted Japanese traditions.[5] He was especially critical of the post-warConstitution of Japan, which he asserted was a foreign import imposed upon Japan which needed revision, if not replacement.[6]
In 1970, Etō completedUmi ga Yomigaeru, a work on theRusso-Japanese War, which (in August 1977) was made into the first three-hour historical drama to be aired on Japanese television.[7]
In 1975, he submitted a doctoral dissertation entitledSōseki to Āsā-Ō densetsu ("Sōseki and the Arthurian Legend") to Keiō University, and received his doctoral degree. The dissertation was a literary criticism ofKairo-kō: A Dirge and he argued that Soseki's own love affair was reflected in the plot.
He was awarded the Japan Art Academy Award in the same year and in 1991, became a member of theJapan Art Academy. From 1994, he was an honorary chairman of the Japan Writer's Association and was on the judging committees for many of Japan's literary awards.
On 21 July 1999, Etō committedsuicide at his home in Kamakura by cutting his left wrist. He had been depressed by the death of his wife due to cancer the previous year, and by astroke which he had suffered, which made writing difficult. His funeral was held perShinto rites, and his grave is at theAoyama Cemetery in Tokyo.
