Yōjirō Ishizaka

Ishizaka ca. 1950

Yōjirō Ishizaka (石坂 洋次郎, Ishizaka Yōjirō, 15 [or 25] January 1900 – 7 October 1986) was a Japanese writer of short stories and novels.[1]

Biography

Born in the Daikancho quarter of Hirosaki, Aomori Prefecture, Ishizaka entered Keio University in 1919.[1] Upon graduating from the Faculty of Letters, he took a position at Hirosaki Girls' High School.[1] Later, he became a teacher at Akita Prefectural Yokote Girls' High School and Akita Prefectural Yokote Junior High School.[1]

In 1939, he moved to Tokyo to concentrate on his literary work.[1] During World War II, he served as a war correspondent in the Philippines.[2]

His 1947 novel Blue Mountain Range (青い山脈, Aoi sanmyaku) portrayed the emancipated post-war youth through the relationships of a group of high school students.[3]

While widely popular in Japan, with his writings repeatedly made into films,[1] only a small portion of his writings have been translated and published in English.

Writings (selected)

• Go to See a Sea (1927)
• Wakai Hito (serialised 1933, book 1937)
• Doku-ganryu masamune (1942) (novel)
• Blue Mountain Range (青い山脈, Aoi sanmyaku) (1947) (novel)
• Ishinaka sensei gyōjōki (1948–54) (short story series)[4]
• Wakai hito (1952) (novel)
• Kuchizuke, III: Onna doshi (1955) (story)
• Nikui mono (1957) (story)
• Hi no ataru sakamichi (1958) (novel)
• Wakai musumetachi (1958) (story)
• Suzukake no sanpomichi (1959) (novel)
• Aruhi watashi wa (1959) (novel)
• Kiri no naka no shojo (1959)
• Kawano hotoride (1962) (story)
• Izuko e (1966) (story)
• Wakai musume ga ippai (1966) (story)
• Dare no isu? (1968) (novel)
• Hi no ataru sakamichi (1975) (novel)
• Aitsu to watashi (1976) (novel)
• Wakai hito (1977) (novel)

Film adaptions (selected)

• 1937: Young People (Wakai hito)
• 1949: Aoi sanmyaku
• 1950: Conduct Report on Professor Ishinaka (Ishinaka sensei gyōjōki)
• 1957: Zoku aoi sanmyaku Yukiko no maki
• 1956: The Baby Carriage (Ubaguruma)
• 1958: A Slope in the Sun (Hi no ataru sakamichi)

References

1. "石坂洋次郎". Kotobank (in Japanese). Retrieved 2 August 2023.
2. Ikehata, Setsuho; Trota Jose, Ricardo (2000). The Philippines Under Japan: Occupation Policy and Reaction. Ateneo de Manila University Press. p. 42–43. ISBN 9789715503327.
3. "青い山脈". Kotobank (in Japanese). Retrieved 2 August 2023.
4. "石中先生行状記". Kotobank (in Japanese). Retrieved 24 August 2023.

External links

• Biography https://web.archive.org/20070616081122/http://www.media-akita.or.jp/akita-pioneers/ishizaka1E.html
• Key dates in Ishizaka's life https://web.archive.org/20070616081122/http://www.media-akita.or.jp/akita-pioneers/ishizaka2E.html
• Yojiro Ishizaka Memorial Hall https://web.archive.org/web/20070616081122/http://www.media-akita.or.jp/akita-pioneers/ishizaka2E.html