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Takayama Chogyū | |
|---|---|
 Takayama Chogyū | |
| Born | (1871-02-28)28 February 1871 Tsuruoka, Yamagata, Japan |
| Died | 24 December 1902(1902-12-24) (aged 31) Chigasaki, Kanagawa, Japan |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Genre | novels, art history, Buddhist philosophy |
Takayama Chogyū (高山 樗牛,Saitō Rinjirō (斎藤 林次郎) 28 February 1871 – 24 December 1902) was a Japanese writer and literary critic. He influencedJapanese literature in the lateMeiji period with his blend of romantic individualism, concepts ofself-realization,aesthetics, andnationalism. However, many of Chogyū's works seem cryptic to readers today, due to the archaic style he employed.
Chogyū was born in what is now the city ofTsuruoka inYamagata Prefecture. His father was a minorsamurai of theShōnai Domain, who found employment with the police after theMeiji Restoration. At the age of two he was adopted by his aunt's family.
In 1887 he entered high school inSendai, where he excelled in English andEnglish literature. While studying philosophy atTokyo Imperial University, he was influenced byThomas Hill Green's concepts of self-realization and nationalism.
Chogyū entered and won a fiction contest sponsored byYomiuri Shimbun newspaper for his semi-historical romance,Takiguchi Nyūdō. It was his first, and only, novel. While still a student, he co-founded theliterary journalTeikoku Bungaku (Imperial Literature) and submitted articles to the literary magazine,Taiyō (Sun), of which he later became senior editor. He also changed his official residence toHokkaidō to avoidmilitary conscription.
In 1896, Chogyū returned toSendai to teach English and logic at a prestigious high school. A student revolt the following year forced him give up teaching to edit a literary magazine, and he returned to Tokyo. It was at this time that he married Satō Sugi.
During the surge ofultra-nationalism that enveloped Japan in the wake of theFirst Sino-Japanese War of 1895 and theTriple Intervention, Chogyū wrote about his identity as a Japanese. Chogyū wrote patriotic articles emphasizing the oneness of the Emperor with his subjects. He also praised the concept of individualism as described in the writings ofWalt Whitman. He was also an advocate ofPan-Asianism, asserting that the general trend of western civilization was that ofracial nationalism, and that any alliances with Western nations would yield eventually to competition, if not a racial war. However, Chogyū later expressed concern withJapanese militarism.
In 1898, while a lecturer atWaseda University, Chogyū asserted that the merit of historical paintings was in the beauty of the painting itself, which revealed the idealized beauty, or aesthetics of a historical period. He publishedKinsei Bigaku (Modern Aesthetics) in 1899, presenting theories somewhat at odds withMori Ōgai'sOutline of Aesthetics.
In 1900,Ministry of Education selected Chogyū to study in Europe together withNatsume Sōseki with a position atKyoto Imperial University waiting for him on his return, but he developedtuberculosis and declined. During his convalescence, he wrote articles praisingFriedrich Nietzsche and on aesthetics. In 1901, Chogyū became a professor atToyo University. Teaching one day a week, he devoted most of his time to writing. In 1902, he received a doctorate in literature fromTokyo Imperial University, writing aboutAsuka period art. The work left him exhausted.
As sea air was thought to be helpful for lung ailments, Chogyū moved from Tokyo to the seaside resort towns ofAtami,Shimizu,Oiso, and finally toKamakura in an effort to cure his disease. With the likelihood of recovery increasingly remote, he turned his attention the teachings of the 13th-centuryBuddhist leaderNichiren. He continued to write, but on religious philosophy, especially Nichirenism. However, his condition worsened and he died on 24 December 1902 at a hospital in nearbyChigasaki. He lived in a house within the precincts of Kamakura'sHase-dera during the last year of his life, and his funeral rites were at the temple.
His grave is located at Ryuge-ji, a temple inShimizu,Shizuoka Prefecture. The inscription on the grave is from one of his writings: "Obviously we should transcend the present."
Although Chogyū's literary career spanned a mere six years, he had a major impact on other Japanese writers; he is largely unknown outside Japan.
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