Motojirō Kajii


Motojirō Kajii was a Japanese writer in the early Shōwa period known for his poetic short stories. Kajii's works included Remon, "Shiro no aru machi nite". Fuyu no hi and Sakura no ki no shita ni wa. His poetic works were praised by fellow writers including Yasunari Kawabata and Yukio Mishima. Today his works are admired for their finely tuned self-observation and descriptive power.
Despite the limited body of work he created during his short lifetime, Kajii has managed to leave a lasting footprint on Japanese culture. "Lemon" is a staple of literature textbooks. According to a report in major daily newspaper Asahi Shimbun, many high school students have emulated the protagonist's defiant act of leaving a lemon in the book section of Maruzen, a department store chain. The opening line of "Under the Cherry Trees" is popularly quoted in reference to hanami, the Japanese custom of cherry blossom viewing.

Biography

Childhood and education (1901–1924)

Kajii was born in Osaka in 1901. He attended primary school in Tokyo from 1910 to 1911, middle school in Toba from 1911 to 1913, and Osaka Prefectural Kitano High School from 1914 to 1919. In September 1919, Kajii entered Kyoto's Third Higher School, where his roommate was Tadashi Iijima. While a student there in 1920, he was diagnosed with pulmonary tuberculosis.

Early literary career (1924–1928)

In 1924, Kajii entered Tokyo Imperial University, where he studied English literature. Shortly, he planned for publish a literary coterie magazine Aozora, with his friends from high school.
In 1925, Remon was published in Aozora first issue.
After relinquished a graduation, Kajii had been stayed in Yugasima on the Izu Peninsula between 1927 and 1928, hoping to recuperate. During that time, he visited the writer Yasunari Kawabata, whom he befriended. The two writers would play go together several times a week.
After Aozora ceased publication in 1927, Kajii's works appeared in Bungei Toshi, another literary coterie magazine.

Late career and death (1928–1932)

In September 1928, Kajii returned to Osaka, where he spent a period of convalescence at home.
Sensing his impending death, friends including the poet Tatsuji Miyoshi and Ryūzō Yodono decided to publish his first book, a collection of his short stories titled Lemon in 1931.
In 1932, he wrote his first novella, titled Nonki na kanja. Its publication in Chūōkōron, which had commissioned the work, was Kajii's first in the commercial magazine.
On March 24, 1932, Kajii died of tuberculosis at age 31.

Works available in English translation

MonographsThe Youth of Things: Life and Death in the Age of Kajii Motojiro - ed. Stephen Dodd Lemon - trans. Chinatsu Komori and Kenneth Traynor
Anthologies
  • "Mating" in The Shōwa Anthology - eds. Van C. Gessel and Tomone Matsumoto
  • "Lemon" in The Oxford Book of Japanese Short Stories - ed. Theodore W. Goossen
  • "Mire" in Tokyo Stories: A Literary Stroll - ed. Lawrence Rogers
  • "Lemon" in The Columbia Anthology of Modern Japanese Literature, Vol. 1 - eds. J. Thomas Rimer and Van C. Gessel
  • "The Lemon," "The Ascension of K, or His Death by Drowning," and "Feelings Atop a Cliff" in Modanizumu; Modernist Fiction from Japan, 1913-1938 - ed. William Jefferson Tyler
  • "Scenes of the Mind" in Three-Dimensional Reading: Stories of Time and Space in Japanese Modernist Fiction, 1911-1932 - ed. Angela Yiu
Literary magazines
  • "Beneath the Cherry Trees" tr. John Bester in The Japan P.E.N. News
  • "A Musical Derangement" tr. Stephen Wechselblatt in New Orleans Review
  • "The Ascension/Drowning of K" and "Lemon" with introduction "Translating Kajii Motojiro" tr. Alfred Birnbaum in The Literary Review
  • "Under the Cherry Blossoms" tr. Bonnie Huie in The Brooklyn Rail
Scholarly worksKajii Motojiro: An Anthology of Short Stories Translated into English Three Stories of Kajii Motojiro: A Study and Translation The Private World of Kajii Motojiro The Translator as Reader and Writer: English Versions of Japanese Short Fiction by Kajii Motojiro
Miscellaneous amateur translations on Internet.
Translations into other languages
  • French: Le citron – partial translation of Remon
  • Russian: Limon – full translation of Remon
  • German: Bildrolle der Finsternis – partial translation of ''Remon''

List of works in original Japanese

Stories in magazines
  1. "Keikichi" - May 1923
  2. "Mujun no yōna shinjitsu" - July 1923
  3. Remon – January 1925
  4. "Shiro no aru machi nite" - February 1925
  5. "Deinei" - July 1925
  6. "Rojō" - October 1925
  7. "Tochi no hana" - November 1925
  8. "Kako" - January 1926
  9. "Setsugo" - June 1926
  10. "Kawabata Yasunari Dai-yon tanpen-shū Shinjū wo shudai to seru variation" - July 1926
  11. "Aru kokoro no fūkei" - August 1926
  12. "K no shōten – aruiwa K no dekishi" - October 1926
  13. Fuyu no hi - February, April 1927
  14. "Sōkyū" - March 1928
  15. "Kakei no hanashi" – April 1928
  16. "Kigakuteki-genkaku" – May 1928
  17. "Fuyu no hae" – May 1928
  18. "Aru gake-ue no kanjō" – July 1928
  19. Sakura no ki no shita ni wa – December 1928
  20. "Aibu" – June 1930
  21. "Yami no emaki" – September 1930
  22. "Kōbi" – January 1931
  23. Nonnki na kanja – January 1932, novella
BooksRemon – May 1931, collection
  • : -- posthumously --Kajii Motojirō zenshū – 1934 Rokuhō ShoinKajii Motojirō zenshū – 1947 Kyoto: Kōtō ShoinKajii Motojirō zenshū – 1948 Kyoto: Kōtō Shoin
  • "Wakaki shijin no tegami" – 1955, selected correspondence. 1955 Kadokawa ShotenKettei-ban Kajii Motojirō zenshū – 1959 Tokyo: Chikuma Shobō. Reprinted in 1966.Kajii Motojirō zenshū – 1999-2000 Tokyo: Chikuma Shobō