Murō Saisei

, real name Murō Terumichi, was a Japanese writer of poetry, short stories and novels.

Biography Early life Murō was born in Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture, in 1889. and was gaining publicity as a writer. He published his first haiku collection Gyomindouhatsu-kushu in 1929.

By the 1930s, he entered his era of writing novels and published a book titled "Goodbye Poem, I am breaking up with you" in 1934 as his declaration of farewell to poetry, but he actually had composed quite a lot of poems even after this public announcement. In 1935, he received the Bungei Konwakai (Discussion Group) Award for his novel Ani imōto (Brother and Sister). He became part of the committee on the Akutagawa Prize (one of the most prestigious literature award in Japan) and continued until 1942. He also received the Kan Kikuchi award in 1941.

Later years It was after World War II that Saisei established his status as a novelist. Anzukko (lit. "Apricot girl"), released in 1957, was a partial autobiography based on his daughter Asako. He won the Yomiuri Prize for this piece. Also in 1958, he received the Mainichi Publishing Culture Prize for his review The biography of my beloved poet. For his classic based novel Remenants from the Mayfly's diary (1959), he received the Noma Literary Prize. In the following year, he created the Muro Saisei Poet Prize from the money he received from the prize.

Murō died of cancer in 1962.

Legacy

The full collection of his literature was published both before (by publisher Hibonkaku, 1936–37, 13 Volumes plus 1 attachment) and after (by publisher Shinchosha, 1964–68, 12 Volumes plus 2 attachments) his death. For his poetry, two publishers (Chikuma Shobo, Fuyukisha) have published full collection of poems. As for his novels, his daughter Asako Muro has edited and published The Full Kingdom Story of Muro Saisei (Sakuhinsha).

A monument honoring Shusei Tokuda was erected near the summit of Mount Utatsu in 1947. The monument features writing authored by Saisei and was designed by architect Yoshirō Taniguchi.

Selected works 1919: Childhood (Yonenjidai) 1919: Sei ni mezameru koro 1919: Aru shōjo no shi made 1934: Brother and Sister (Ani imotō) 1957: Anzukko

Adaptations (selected) Murō's work has been repeatedly adapted for film by prestigious directors like Mikio Naruse and Tadashi Imai. 1936: Ani imōto, dir. Sotoji Kimura 1953: Older Brother, Younger Sister (Ani imōto), dir. Mikio Naruse 1955: Mugibue, dir. Shirō Toyoda 1958: Anzukko, dir. Mikio Naruse 1976: Brother and Sister (Ani imōto), dir. Tadashi Imai