Hyakken Uchida, Realm of the Dead

Photograph of Hyakken Uchida.

Hyakken Uchida (内田 百閒) was a prolific Japanese author of both fiction and non-fiction, who is considered by many to be a literary genius. However, this reputation has not extended far outside of Japan, where he remains relatively obscure—as a matter of fact, I had difficulty gathering any information at all. He was born in 1889, and would later study Germanics (language, literature, history, etc.) at the Univeristy of Tokyo, graduating in 1914. Here he met with the pre-eminent Japanese author Natsume Souseki (夏目 漱石). After his studies, he worked as a professor of German, first at the Imperial Japanese Army Academy and then at Hosei University, until the age of 54. He then retired, so that he could focus on his writing.

Only two of his works have been translated into English: Meido (冥途, The Realm of the Dead) and Ryojun Nyujōshiki (旅順入城式, Triumphant March into Port Arthur). Both are found in a single volume, translated by Rachel DiNitto. Realm of the Dead is his first work, and is really a collection of sketch stories, that are heavily influenced by Japanese folklore, and the stories tend to be characterized by a dark and supernatural atmosphere, and how individuals respond to strange happenings. The story "Kudan" is considered one of the most famous from the collection, dealing with a man who suddenly finds himself transformed into the titular legendary creature, with the body of a cow and the face of a man. Other such stories typically feature such supernatural occurrences, which has lead some to criticize the collection as repetitive; however, the stories vary greatly in tone as far as being suspenseful, humorous, and sometimes just strange, which in the end negates any repetitiousness.

Classical Painting of a Kudan.

Triumphant March into Port Arthur is also a collection of short stories and sketches, but is more variable in the length of stories, and in many of the stories takes on an autobiographical tone, giving more insight into the "earlier" life of the author as a professor of German, where little biographical information (at least in English) exists. In the preface, Uchida addresses the difficulties he faced in getting the book published:

After ten long years, I finally finished Realm of the Dead. The book was ready to be published, but in that year Tokyo was struck by terrible misfortune. The great earthquake and accompanying fires completely destroyed the foundry plates, causing the book to suffer the unfortunate fate of going out of print. For the next ten years, I gnawed at my pen and ripped through paper, and somehow after piecing together this mere collection, I was lucky enough to receive the favor of a publisher. When the book was finally about to be printed, I reflected back on the path of writing and found it to be far to long and precipitous.

Poster for Madadayo.

I can't resist the urge to interject yet another history lesson, as Realm of the Dead was published in 1922 and Triumphant March into Port Arthur in 1934, which was a time of increasing Japanese nationalism and militarism, leading up to the Second Sino-Japanese war. Also, the earthquake alludes (most likely) to the Great Kantou earthquake of 1923, which remains the deadliest earthquake in Japan's history, with nearly 150,000 deaths, and resulting in a fair amount of political turmoil.

Most of Uchida's works were written during the years preceding World War II—a time of increasing nationalism and imperialism in Japan—and following Japan's defeat. Unfortunately, these works are still only accessible to those who can read Japanese. However, many of Uchida's essays and journals were adapted into the film Madadayo, Akira Kurosawa's final film, in 1993.

Concept art of Uchida viewing the moon and ruins
 with his students.

Madadayo is quite unlike many of the films that Kurosawa is better known for, such as Seven Samurai or Ran. It does not, for example, feature a cohesive plot, but rather focuses on several episodic periods of Uchida's life, such as the time spent in a small hut after the destruction of Tokyo in the war, or the search for his lost cat Nora. For those interested in the life of Hyakken Uchida, this film offers a lot of insight. For those interested in reading his non-fiction works, it still serves as a great substitute, being crafted by Akira Kurosawa, one of the greatest film makers of the 20th century.

 

Uchida distributes flyers to children describing his lost cat.

Hopefully, within the following years translations of more works will appear. Until then, what we have will have to do—though, I might mention that one more work may be available in the west. Uchida's Sarasāte no ban (サラサーテの盤) was made into a film entitled Zigeunerweisen. The film, an independent film, is also somewhat obscure, but again, there is very little available to the western audience.

読んで、ありがとう。