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Japanese writer (1923–1996) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Shūsaku Endō (遠藤 周作, Endō Shūsaku, March 27, 1923 – September 29, 1996)[1] was a Japanese author who wrote from the perspective of a Japanese Catholic. Internationally, he is known for his 1966 historical fiction novel Silence, which was adapted into a 2016 film of the same name by director Martin Scorsese.[2] He was the laureate of several prestigious literary accolades, including the Akutagawa Prize and the Order of Culture, and was inducted into the Roman Catholic Order of St. Sylvester by Pope Paul VI.
Shūsaku Endō | |
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![]() Endō in 1954 | |
Native name | 遠藤 周作 |
Born | Tokyo, Empire of Japan | March 27, 1923
Died | September 29, 1996 73) Tokyo, Japan | (aged
Occupation | Writer |
Alma mater | Keio University |
Genre | Historical fiction |
Literary movement | "Third Generation" |
Notable works | Silence (1966) |
Spouse |
Junko Endō (m. 1955) |
Together with Junnosuke Yoshiyuki, Shōtarō Yasuoka, Junzo Shono, Hiroyuki Agawa, Ayako Sono (also Catholic), and Shumon Miura, Endō is categorized as part of the "Third Generation" (that is, the third major group of Japanese writers to appear after World War II).
Soon after Endō was born in Tokyo in 1923, his family moved to Dairen, then part of the Kwantung Leased Territory in Manchuria.[1] When his parents divorced in 1933, Endō's mother brought him back to Japan to live with an aunt in Kobe.[3] Endō was baptized as a Catholic at the age of 11 or 12[4] in 1934.[3] Some say this was brought on by his mother, who had converted to Catholicism after her divorce,[1] while others state the aunt instigated the initiation.[5]
Endō first attended Waseda University for the stated purpose of studying medicine,[1] but later decided to switch to the literature programme at Keio University.[4] His studies were interrupted by the war, during which he worked in a munitions factory[3] and also contributed to literary journals. In 1968, he would later become chief editor of one of these, the prestigious Mita Bungaku.[6]
Endō was among the first Japanese university students to study in France.[7] His studies at the University of Lyon over the 1950–1953 period deepened his interest in and knowledge of modern French Catholic authors, who were to become a major influence on his own writing.[4][5]
Upon his return to Japan, his success as a writer was almost immediate. In 1954, a year after completing his studies in France, he won the Akutagawa Prize for Shiroi Hito (White Men).[8]
Endō married Okada Junko[1] in 1955.[8] They had one son,[8] Ryūnosuke,[5] born in 1956.
Endō lectured at at least two Tokyo universities.[8] In 1956, he was hired as an instructor at Sophia University,[3] and Seijo University assigned him the role of "Lecturer on the Theory of the Novel" in 1967.[6] He was considered a novelist not a university professor, however.[8]
Throughout his life bouts of disease plagued him, and he spent two years in hospital at one point.[8] In 1952, while studying in France, he came down with pleurisy in Paris.[3] A return visit in 1960 prompted another case of the same disease, and he stayed in hospital (in France and Japan) for the greater part of three years.[6] Among other health problems, he contracted tuberculosis,[9] underwent thoracoplasty,[9] and had a lung removed.[8]
While he lost the 1994 Nobel Prize in Literature to Kenzaburō Ōe,[5] he received the Order of Culture the subsequent year.[6] Endō died shortly thereafter from complications of hepatitis at Keio University Hospital in Tokyo on September 29, 1996.[5]
While Endō wrote in several genres,[10] his oeuvre is strongly tied to Christianity if not Catholicism. Endō has been called "a novelist whose work has been dominated by a single theme ... belief in Christianity".[4] Others have said that he is "almost by default ... [labeled] a 'Japanese Catholic author' struggling to 'plant the seeds of his adopted religion' in the 'mudswamp' of Japan".[1] He often likened Japan to a swamp or fen.[11][12] In the novel Silence, an official tells a priest who has apostatized, "Father, it was not by us that you were defeated, but by this mudswamp, Japan." In Endō's stage version of this story, The Golden Country, this official also says: "But the mudswamp too has its good points, if you will but give yourself up to its comfortable warmth. The teachings of Christ are like a flame. Like a flame they set a man on fire. But the tepid warmth of Japan will eventually nurture sleep."[13] Thus, many of Endō's characters are allegories.[10]
He may not be embraced by fellow Christians—Catholics, in particular.[10] Some of his characters (many of whom are allegories) may reference non-Western religions.[10] While not the main focus of his works, a few of Endō's books mention Kakure Kirishitans (hidden Christians).[14] Endō preferred to use the term "かくれ切支丹" instead of the more common "かくれキリシタン".[15]
His books reflect many of his childhood experiences, including the stigma of being an outsider, the experience of being a foreigner, the life of a hospital patient, and the struggle with tuberculosis. However, his books mainly deal with the moral fabric of life.
His Catholic faith can be seen at some level in all of his books and it is often a central feature. Most of his characters struggle with complex moral dilemmas, and their choices often produce mixed or tragic results.
His work is often compared to that of Graham Greene,[16] with whom he shared a mutual admiration: Greene himself labeled Endō one of the finest writers alive,[5] while it is reported that Endo would re-read Greene's novel The End of the Affair before beginning a new work of his own.[12]
This section needs additional citations for verification. (July 2013) |
The Syusaku Endo Literature Museum, in Sotome, Nagasaki, is devoted to the writer's life and works.