Takizawa Bakin

thumb|right|The well at Takizawa Bakin's house

, born , was a Japanese novelist of the Edo period, who wrote under the pen name . Later in life he took the pen name . Modern scholarship generally refers to him as , or just as n. He is regarded as one of, if not the, leading author of early 19th century Japanese literature. He was the third surviving son of a samurai family of low rank. After numerous deaths in his family, he relinquished his samurai status, married a merchant's widow, and became an Edo townsperson. He was able to support his family with his prolific writing of , primarily didactic historical romances, though he always wanted to restore his family to the social class. Some of his best known works are (The Chronicles of the Eight Dog Heroes of the Satomi Clan of Nansō) consisting of 106 books and ' (Strange Tales of the Crescent Moon). published more than 200 works in his life, including literary critiques, diaries, and historical novels.

Life and career

Family and early life

Born in Edo (present-day Tokyo) on 4 July 1767, was the fifth son of and . Two of his elder brothers died in infancy.

's father, , was a samurai in the service of one of the retainers, until 1751 when he left his lord and gained service with . While serving under , was adopted into the family and wed 's adopted daughter, . returned to serve the family in 1760 after successor was dismissed for embezzlement. Though a heavy drinker, he was devoted to scholarship of classical Chinese works, especially those focused on military matters. He was a diligent , but contracted gout in 1773 and died in 1775. His death forced the clan to reduce the stipend by half, starting the steady decline of 's family.

, 's mother, is characterized as being a good mother and loyal wife and the family had the privilege of living in the mansion until their piecemeal departure from 's service that reached its completion in 1780. Her eldest son, (1759-1798) was the only child not born on the estate and served the family until becoming a in 1776. His departure led to and her remaining children including and his two younger sisters, (1771-?) and (1774-?), being forced into a much smaller dwelling. 's older brother, (1765–1786), was adopted out to lessen the financial burden and was declared the head of the family at age nine. 's turning point came in 1790 when he approached the very successful author, , seeking help with the publication of the former 's first work, ().

In 1798 died of dysentery leaving as the sole male heir of the line. He swore to restore the family line. 's two daughters had died of illness in infancy.

thumb|Illustration by [[Hokusai of "Chinsetsu Yumihari"]]

Life as an author

(尽用而二分狂言) was published in 1791 under the pen name ", Disciple of ". This first book had a didactic tone that would carry through most of his works going forward. This choice in tone would benefit him as literature and the laws around it had changed in 1790 with the adoption of the Kansei Reforms. was able to avoid the punishments levied on his contemporaries like , and his friend and patron, . chose to stay silent on any controversies in his writings. 's own humiliation deeply affected him. He requested ghostwrite for him as a deadline for two works approached. These two works, and were written by and copied by before being sent off for publishing. By 1818, with the purchase of a second household with the profits of his book sales and wife's business, the family was officially restored. In 1820, 's son, was appointed clan physician by Lord making his social class officially and felt his family's future was secured.

The Bunka-Bunsei cultural renaissance which started in 1804 lent momentum to fiction as a whole and art flourished until the renaissance concluded around 1830. Serialized long-form works became more prevalent, not just among historical novels. It was during this time that continued publishing profitable and popular works. These ranged among scholarly essays and journals, though his most prevalent fiction remained the historical novel. He also embarked on creating his signature piece, . This work consisted of 106 volumes, making it one of the world's longest novels, and took 28 years to complete (1814–1842). Like most of his works, focused on themes, including loyalty and family honor, as well as Confucianism, and Buddhist philosophy. During its production, would recede from public life and split from his contemporaries causing rumors to circulate that he had died. Unfortunately, while working on this voluminous work, would experience the loss of his eyesight and the death of his wife and only son.

thumb|Grave of Takizawa Bakin

Decline and death

While writing, also went about ensuring his children married well. had married in 1815 and given birth to a son. married (1787-1837) in 1823 and her new husband took on the management of the family business under the name . , after a prolonged illness that kept him from his duties as a clan physician, married a young woman named in 1827. She was later called and would play a pivotal role in her father-in-law's later life. bore three children; son (1828-?), daughter (1830-?) who was adopted by and , and daughter (1833-?). The final parts of the work were dictated to his daughter-in-law.

's health, which had started a slow decline in 1818 worsened into the 1830s. He continued to publish but at a much slower pace than before. His wife's frequent illnesses taxed him as did his son's continued invalidity and 's rheumatism and vision loss progressed. He would feel bouts of energy between 1825 and 1835 that would allow him to continue working. and authors like used 's methodology for adapting Chinese literature to bring Western works to Japan.

A series of containing 50 pictures depicting characters from and featuring leading kabuki actors was created by . These prints were published in the early 1850s by . Excerpts translated by Chris Drake are included in Early Modern Japanese Literature: An Anthology, 1600-1900, edited by (Columbia University Press, 2002). The Eight Dog Chronicles has been adapted many times in, for example, the anime OVA The Hakkenden.

His (Strange Tales of the Crescent Moon) was adapted for the stage by .

A character based on Kyokutei Bakin appears in the video game Fate/Grand Order.

Sample bibliography

Yomihon (Readers' Books)

() 1796
() 1804
() 1804
() 1804 (Volume 1 and 2)
() 1805
() 1805
() 1804
() 1805
() 1807
() 1807-1811
() 1808
() 1808
() 1808
() 1808
() 1808
() 1808
() 1809
() 1810
() 1814-1842
() 1815 (Volume 1 Unfinished)
(u) 1829-1830 (Bunsei 12 and 13)
() 1832 (Unfinished)

Gōkan

() 1812
() 1825 (Unfinished)
() 1839
() 1831

Yellow Books

() 1791
() 1797
() 1800
() 1801

Saijiki (Seasonal Dictionary)

() 1803 The first ""

References

External links

Takizawa Bakin in Encyclopædia Britannica