Loading AI tools
Japanese author and guitarist From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Shichirō Fukazawa (深沢 七郎, Fukazawa Shichirō, January 29, 1914 – August 18, 1987) was a Japanese author and guitarist whose 1960 short story Fūryū mutan ("Tale of an Elegant Dream") caused a nationwide uproar and led to an attempt by an ultranationalist to assassinate the president of the magazine that published it.[1]
Fukazawa was born in Isawa, Yamanashi, Japan.[2] His first novel, The Ballad of Narayama (楢山節考, Narayama bushikō), won the prestigious Chūō Kōron Prize,[3] announcing his status as a rising star in the literary world, and has twice been adapted for film: first by Keisuke Kinoshita in 1958,[4] and again by Shōhei Imamura in 1983.[5] Imamura's film won the Cannes Film Festival Palme d'Or.[6]
In the fall of 1960, the mainstream monthly magazine Chūō Kōron published his satirical short story Furyū mutan (風流夢譚, “The Tale of an Elegant Dream").[7] In the story, an unnamed protagonist narrates a dream sequence in which leftists take over the Imperial Palace and behead the Emperor and Empress, as well as the Crown Prince and Crown Princess, before an enthusiastic crowd.[7] This story provoked fury in the Imperial Household Agency and among Japanese right-wing ultranationalists.[7][8]
On February 1, 1961, in response to the story, Kazutaka Komori, a seventeen-year-old rightist, broke into the home of Hōji Shimanaka, Chūō Kōron magazine's president, killed his maid and severely wounded his wife.[9][10] Fukazawa received death threats on a daily basis,[9] and after offering a tearful public apology, went into hiding for five years.[11] His promising literary career went into a long hiatus, and although he later returned to writing, he never fully recovered his "rising star" status.[12] In later years, he could be found serving grilled bean cakes (imagawayaki) in a working class Tokyo neighborhood at a stall called "Dream Shop" (Yumeya).[12]
The aftermath of the Shimanaka incident (嶋中事件, Shimanaka jiken) meant that criticism of the Imperial Family, and discussion of the role or existence of the Emperor, became taboo.[10][13]
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Every time you click a link to Wikipedia, Wiktionary or Wikiquote in your browser's search results, it will show the modern Wikiwand interface.
Wikiwand extension is a five stars, simple, with minimum permission required to keep your browsing private, safe and transparent.
