Page:Eminent Authors of Contemporary Japan, volume 2.pdf/47



Kokushi Kishida, the author of the following drama, was born in Tokyo, in the 23rd year of Meiji (1880). His father was from Kishu Province and was the Commander of an artillery regiment.

Kishida’s younger life was passed in Tokyo, and after graduating from the military schools at Nagoya and at Tokyo, he joined the colours at Kyushu. But for reasons of his own, the young officer gave up his army life, and again studied French literature at the Tokyo Imperial University. In 1919 he went over to France, where he experincedexperienced [sic] a wanderer’s life for some four years, and with his father’s death he returned home to be a writer and a lecturer at some colleges.

Besides a number of translations he has already published many one-act plays of his own vivacity. His description of a young woman’s psychology is unique, and with the naivete and smartness of his style, his writings never fail to make the reader (or audience) grasp something fresh and memorable. He is one of the most promising writers of the younger generation.

His works of fame are:—

“The Autumn in Tyroll,” “Old Playthings,” “A Paper BaloonBalloon [sic],” “The Oldest Chestnut Tree in the Village,” “A Virtuous Woman,” etc., etc.

Very recently he wrote a novel, “Miss Yuri Hatae,” and is much expected in this direction too.

E. Ukai