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{{Short description|Japanese writer (1901–1932)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2012}}
{{Infobox writer <!-- for more information see [[:Template:Infobox writer/doc]] -->
| name = Motojirō Kajii<br>梶井 基次郎
| image = Motojirō Kajii.jpg<!--CLICK IMAGE TO SEE FAIR-USE NOTICE-->
| caption = Motojirō at garden of his brother's house in [[Kawabe District, Hyōgo]] (January 1931)
| pseudonym = <!--NONE-->
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1901|2|17}}
| birth_place = [[Nishi-ku, Osaka]], Japan
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1932|3|24|1901|2|17}}
| death_place = Oji-cho, [[Sumiyoshi-ku, Osaka|Sumiyoshi-ku]] (now:[[Abeno-ku, Osaka|Abeno-ku]]), Osaka
| resting_place = Minami-ku (now:[[Chūō-ku, Osaka|Chūō-ku]]), Osaka
| occupation = Writer
| language = Japanese
| citizenship =
| education =
| alma_mater = [[University of Tokyo]] (withdrew)
| period = 1925 – 1932 <!--PUBLICATIONS-->
| genre = Short story, [[Prose poetry]]
| subject = <!--NON-FICTION WRITERS ONLY-->
| movement = ([[I Novel|I-Novel]]<ref>[[I Novel|I-Novel]] wasn't an active literary movement ''per se'' but an emerging new genre in Japan, informally grouping the first authors who decided to use it.</ref>)
| notableworks = {{ubl|[[Lemon (short story)|Lemon]] (1925)|In a Castle Town (1925)|Winter Days (1927)|Flies of Winter (1928)|Beneath the Cherry Trees (1928)|The Scroll of Darkness (1930)|The Easygoing Patient (1932)}}
| relatives =
| awards =
| signature =
| signature_alt =
| website = <!-- www.example.com -->
| portaldisp =
}}
{{nihongo|'''Motojirō Kajii'''|梶井 基次郎|Kajii Motojirō|also<!--NAMECHECKING VARIANTS FOR SEARCH ENGINES--> '''Motojirou Kajii,''' February 17, 1901 – March 24, 1932}} was a Japanese writer in the early [[Shōwa period]] known for his poetic short stories. Kajii's works included {{Nihongo|''Remon''|[[:ja:檸檬 (小説)|檸檬]]||"[[Lemon (short story)|Lemon]]"}}, {{Nihongo|"Shiro no aru machi nite"|[[:ja:城のある町にて|城のある町にて]]||"In a Castle Town"}}. {{Nihongo|''Fuyu no hi''|[[:ja:冬の日 (小説)|冬の日]]||"Winter Days"}} and {{Nihongo|''Sakura no ki no shita ni wa''|[[:ja:櫻の樹の下には|櫻の樹の下には]]||"Beneath the Cherry Trees"}}. His poetic works were praised by fellow writers including [[Yasunari Kawabata]] and [[Yukio Mishima]].<ref name="album">{{cite book |script-title=ja:新潮日本文学アルバム27 梶井基次郎|trans-title=Shincho Japanese literature Album 27 Motojirō Kajii|year= 1985| publisher= [[Shinchosha]]| language= ja}}</ref> 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.<ref name=kojima/> 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.<ref name=kojima>" I read an article about Maruzen closing its business in yesterday's Asahi Journal Evening Edition. It claims that many people are leaving lemons in the department store, just like the main character in Motojiro Kajii's short story titled LEMON. Coincidentally, I learned that many people are buying LEMON from the bookstore inside Maruzen. LEMON is featured in school textbooks; there aren't many Japanese who don't know the story. I am fond of the story myself. I learned the name Maruzen for the first time through LEMON. To be perfectly honest... I left a lemon in Maruzen when I was a high school student. My friend did the same. It must have been a nuisance for the people who worked there. " – [[Hideo Kojima]] (creator of the [[Metal Gear Solid]] video games for [[Konami]]), in the {{cite web |url=http://www.blog.konami.jp/gs/hideoblog_e/2005/10/000297.html |title=Sunday, 2 October 2005 entry of his English blog |access-date=2007-02-13 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070213010329/http://www.blog.konami.jp/gs/hideoblog_e/2005/10/000297.html |archive-date=February 13, 2007 |df=mdy-all }}</ref><ref>" On October 10 Maruzen will close their Kyoto shop which is associated with this novel Lemon. After they announced their closure, store staff found lemons on the books. They had lemons before a few times in a year, but this year they have found 11 lemons already. " – Mari Kanazawa (notable Tokyo blogger), in the [http://smt.blogs.com/mari_diary/2005/10/a_lemon_on_book.html Monday, October 03, 2005 entry "A lemon on books" of her English blog "Watashi to Tokyo – Me and Tokyo"]</ref> The opening line of "Under the Cherry Trees" (''Dead bodies are buried under the cherry trees!'') is popularly quoted<ref name="loveletter">[http://kenji.cnu.ac.kr/loveletter/sakura/hanami-2.htm "Why is the Cherry Blossom (Sakura) cherished?"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930075910/http://kenji.cnu.ac.kr/loveletter/sakura/hanami-2.htm |date=September 30, 2007 }}</ref> 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]] (Kyoto-Sanko, a [[junior college]]), where his roommate was [[Tadashi Iijima]].<ref name="Honma">{{cite web|last1=Honma|first1=Satoru|title=飯島正先生とその蔵書|url=http://www.wul.waseda.ac.jp/Libraries/fumi/38/38-2.html|website=Fumikura|publisher=Waseda University|access-date=29 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180430045418/http://www.wul.waseda.ac.jp/Libraries/fumi/38/38-2.html|archive-date=April 30, 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref> 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 {{Nihongo|''Aozora''|[[:ja:青空 (雑誌)|青空]]||"Blue Sky"}}, with his friends from high school.
In 1925, {{Nihongo|''Remon''|[[:ja:檸檬 (小説)|檸檬]]||"[[Lemon (short story)|Lemon]]"}} was published in ''Aozora'' first issue.
After relinquished a graduation, Kajii had been stayed in {{Nihongo|''Yugasima''|[[:ja:湯ヶ島温泉|湯ヶ島]]||"Yugasima [[Onsen]]"}} 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 (board game)|go]] together<ref>(op. cit.) Kajii & Kodama de Larroche, ''Le citron'', p. 13</ref> several times a week.
After ''Aozora'' ceased publication in 1927, Kajii's works appeared in {{Nihongo|''Bungei Toshi''|文藝都市||"The Literary City"}}, 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 {{Nihongo|''Nonki na kanja''|のんきな患者||"The Easygoing Patient"}}. 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.
==Bibliography==
===Works available in English translation===
'''Monographs'''
* ''The Youth of Things: Life and Death in the Age of Kajii Motojiro'' (2014) - ed. Stephen Dodd ({{ISBN|978-0824838409}})
* ''Lemon'' (2009) - trans. Chinatsu Komori and Kenneth Traynor ({{ISBN|978-0982438411}})
'''Anthologies'''
* "Mating" in ''The Shōwa Anthology'' (1984) - eds. Van C. Gessel and Tomone Matsumoto ({{ISBN|978-4770017086}})
* "Lemon" in ''The Oxford Book of Japanese Short Stories'' (1997) - ed. Theodore W. Goossen ({{ISBN|978-0199583195}})
* "Mire" in ''Tokyo Stories: A Literary Stroll'' (2002) - ed. Lawrence Rogers ({{ISBN|978-0520217881}})
* "Lemon" in ''The Columbia Anthology of Modern Japanese Literature, Vol. 1'' (2005) - eds. J. Thomas Rimer and Van C. Gessel ({{ISBN|978-0231118613}})
* "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 ({{ISBN|978-0824832421}})
* "Scenes of the Mind" in ''Three-Dimensional Reading: Stories of Time and Space in Japanese Modernist Fiction, 1911-1932'' - ed. Angela Yiu ({{ISBN|978-0824838010}})
'''Literary magazines'''
* "Beneath the Cherry Trees" tr. [[John Bester]] in ''The Japan P.E.N. News'' (1964)
* "A Musical Derangement" tr. Stephen Wechselblatt in ''New Orleans Review'' (1983)
* "The Ascension/Drowning of K" and "Lemon" with introduction "Translating Kajii Motojiro" tr. [[Alfred Birnbaum]] in ''[[The Literary Review]]'' (1996)
* "Under the Cherry Blossoms" tr. Bonnie Huie in ''The [[Brooklyn Rail]]'' (2014)
'''Scholarly works'''
* ''Kajii Motojiro: An Anthology of Short Stories Translated into English'' (1977)
* ''Three Stories of Kajii Motojiro: A Study and Translation'' (1978)
* ''The Private World of Kajii Motojiro'' (1982)
* ''The Translator as Reader and Writer: English Versions of Japanese Short Fiction by Kajii Motojiro'' (1982)
'''Miscellaneous amateur translations on Internet (see external links below).'''
'''Translations into other languages {{As of|2007|lc=on}}'''
* French: ''Le citron'' (1987, 1996) – partial translation of ''Remon'' (stories #1,8,9,10,11,13,16,18)
* Russian: ''Limon'' (2004) – full translation of ''Remon'' (stories #1–18)
* German: ''Bildrolle der Finsternis'' (2023) – partial translation of ''Remon'' (stories #1,2,10,11,15,18,20)
===List of works in original Japanese===
'''Stories in magazines'''
# {{Nihongo|"Keikichi"|奎吉||"Keikichi"}} - May 1923
# {{Nihongo|"Mujun no yōna shinjitsu"|矛盾の様な真実||"The Truth like a Contradiction"}} - July 1923
# {{Nihongo|''Remon''|[[:ja:檸檬 (小説)|檸檬]]||"[[Lemon (short story)|Lemon]]"}} – January 1925
# {{Nihongo|"Shiro no aru machi nite"|[[:ja:城のある町にて|城のある町にて]]||"In a Castle Town"}} - February 1925
# {{Nihongo|"Deinei"|泥濘||"Mire"}} - July 1925
# {{Nihongo|"Rojō"|路上||"On the Road"}} - October 1925
# {{Nihongo|"Tochi no hana"|橡の花||"[[Aesculus]]"}} - November 1925
# {{Nihongo|"Kako"|過古||"In the Past", "The Past"}} - January 1926
# {{Nihongo|"Setsugo"|雪後||"After the Snow"}} - June 1926
# {{Nihongo|"[[Kawabata Yasunari]] Dai-yon tanpen-shū ''Shinjū'' wo shudai to seru variation"|[[:ja:川端康成第四短篇集「心中」を主題とせるヴアリエイシヨン|川端康成第四短篇集「心中」を主題とせるヴァリエイシヨン]]||"a Variation of Motif to {{Nihongo|"[[Shinjū]]"|[[:ja:心中 (川端康成)|心中]]||"Love Suicides"}}, 4th Collection of [[Yasunari Kawabata]]'s Short stories"}} - July 1926
# {{Nihongo|"Aru kokoro no fūkei"|[[:ja:ある心の風景|ある心の風景]]||"A Landscape of the Soul", "Landscapes of the Heart"}} - August 1926
# {{Nihongo|"K no shōten – aruiwa K no dekishi"|[[:ja:Kの昇天|Kの昇天 – 或はKの溺死]]||"The Ascension of K, or K's Drowning", "The Ascension/Drowning of K"}} - October 1926
# {{Nihongo|''Fuyu no hi''|[[:ja:冬の日 (小説)|冬の日]]||"Winter Days"}} - February, April 1927
# {{Nihongo|"Sōkyū"|[[:ja:蒼穹 (小説)|蒼穹]]|"Blue Sky"}} - March 1928
# {{Nihongo|"Kakei no hanashi"|筧の話||"The Bamboo Pipe", "The Story of the Bamboo Pipe"}} – April 1928
# {{Nihongo|"Kigakuteki-genkaku"|[[:ja:器楽的幻覚|器樂的幻覺]]||"Instrumental Hallucinations", "A Musical Derangement", "Instrumental Illusions"}} – May 1928
# {{Nihongo|"Fuyu no hae"|[[:ja:冬の蠅|冬の蠅]]||"Flies of Winter", "Winter Flies"}} – May 1928
# {{Nihongo|"Aru gake-ue no kanjō"|[[:ja:ある崖上の感情|ある崖上の感情]]||"Feelings Atop a Cliff", "Certain Feelings on a Cliff Top"}} – July 1928
# {{Nihongo|''Sakura no ki no shita ni wa''|[[:ja:櫻の樹の下には|櫻の樹の下には]]||"Beneath the Cherry Trees", "Under the Cherry Trees"}} – December 1928
# {{Nihongo|"Aibu"|[[:ja:愛撫 (小説)|愛撫]]||"Caress"}} – June 1930
# {{Nihongo|"Yami no emaki"|[[:ja:闇の絵巻|闇の繪巻]]||"The Scroll of Darkness", "Scroll of Darkness"}} – September 1930
# {{Nihongo|"Kōbi"|[[:ja:交尾 (小説)|交尾]]||"Mating"}} – January 1931
# {{Nihongo|''Nonnki na kanja''|[[:ja:のんきな患者|のんきな患者]]||"The Easygoing Patient", "The Carefree Patient"}} – January 1932, novella
(Unpublished or unfinished works included in ''Complete Works'' are not listed above.)
'''Books'''
* {{Nihongo|''Remon''|[[:ja:檸檬 (小説)|檸檬]]||"[[Lemon (short story)|Lemon]]"}} – May 1931, collection (stories #1–18)
*: ''-- posthumously --''
* {{Nihongo|''Kajii Motojirō zenshū (Jōge-kan)''|梶井基次郎全集 (上・下巻)||''Kajii Motojirō Complete Works, Vol.1 and 2''}} – 1934 (ed. Takao Nakatani, Ryūzō Yodono) Rokuhō Shoin
* {{Nihongo|''Kajii Motojirō zenshū (Dai 1-kan)''|梶井基次郎全集 (第1卷)||''Kajii Motojirō Complete Works, Vol. 1''}} – 1947 (ed. Ryūzō Yodono) Kyoto: Kōtō Shoin
* {{Nihongo|''Kajii Motojirō zenshū (Dai 2-kan)''|梶井基次郎全集 (第2卷)||''Kajii Motojirō Complete Works, Vol. 2''}} – 1948 (ed. Ryūzō Yodono) Kyoto: Kōtō Shoin
* {{Nihongo|"Wakaki shijin no tegami"|若き詩人の手紙||"Letters of a Young Poet"}} – 1955, selected correspondence. 1955 (ed. Ryūzō Yodono) [[Kadokawa Shoten]]
* {{Nihongo|''Kettei-ban Kajii Motojirō zenshū (Zen 3-kan)''|決定版 梶井基次郎全集 (全3卷)||''Kajii Motojirō Complete Works Definitive edition, Vol. 1-3''}} – 1959 (ed. Ryūzō Yodono, Takao Nakatani) Tokyo: Chikuma Shobō. Reprinted in 1966.
* {{Nihongo|''Kajii Motojirō zenshū (Zen 3-kan＋Bekkan)''|梶井基次郎全集 (全3卷＋別巻)||''Kajii Motojirō Complete Works, Vol. 1-3 and supplementary''}} – 1999-2000 (ed. Sadami Suzuki) Tokyo: Chikuma Shobō
==See also==
{{Portal|Novels|Japan}}
* [[Japanese literature]]
* [[List of Japanese authors]]
==References==
'''Sources consulted'''
<!--PLEASE LIST HERE THE MAIN BOOKS, MAGAZINES, OR REPUTABLE ONLINE SITES USED AS PRIMARY SOURCES FOR WRITING THE BULK OF THIS ARTICLE. AND USE TOPICAL ‹REF› .. ‹/REF› FOR CONTEXTUAL NOTES SOURCING SPECIAL DETAILS OR CONTROVERSIAL POINTS. THANKS. -->
* Kajii, Motojiro (stories); Kodoma de Larroche, Christine (translation, introduction). 1996. ''Le citron : nouvelles'' (second partial French translation of ''Remon''). Picquier poche. Arles, France: P. Picquier. {{ISBN|978-2-87730-277-7}}: pp. 7–22 (short biography). [First printed as: Kajii, Motojiro (stories); Kodoma de Larroche, Christine (translation, introduction). 1987. ''Les cercles d'un regard : le monde de Kajii Motojirô'' (first partial French translation of ''Remon''). Bibliothèque de l'Institut des hautes études japonaises. Paris, France: Maisonneuve et Larose. {{ISBN|978-2-7068-0932-3}}.]
* Matsuoka, Tatsuya. 2005. "An Encounter with Kajii Motojiro" (English version of his [http://jlpp.jp/list/works08/index02.html Japanese notice]{{dead link|date=February 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}). JLLP (Japanese Literature Publishing Project). Tokyo, Japan: Japanese Literature Publishing and Promotion Center (Agency for Cultural Affairs of Japan). Internet page ([https://archive.today/20240524043327/https://www.webcitation.org/5OT2LJ3qn?url=http://jlpp.jp/english/list/works08/index02.html snapshot] at [[WebCite]]).
'''Endnotes'''
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
'''General reference'''
* [http://griffe.com/projects/worldlit/author.phtml?name=Kajii A complete list of stories by Kajii (with literal English and Romaji titles)] at Griffe – World's Literature
* [http://www.booksfromjapan.jp/authors/item/954-motojiro-kajii J'Lit | Authors : Motojiro Kajii | Books from Japan]
* [http://www.kanko-otakara.jp/webapps/Contribute/Parser.do?codes=24|0496921679|242047&prefix=02x01_9MCKI5238zP&l_code=02 Matsusaka Castle Ruins, "The scenery which Kajii Motojiro loved"]{{Dead link|date=August 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} – the basis for "In a Castle Town"
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080929090326/http://jclab.wordpress.com/category/motojiro-kajii-1901-1932/ Audiobook in Japanese] (mp3)
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080530114838/http://www.horror-house.jp/e/cat4/motojiro-kajii-19011932.html Motojiro Kajii's grave]
'''Translations available online (includes amateur translations)'''
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Motojirō Kajii}}
* {{Librivox author |id=3096}}
* [https://tonygonz.blogspot.com/2006/05/inner-landscape-kajii-motojiro.html "An Inner Landscape"] (tr. Tony Gonzalez)
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120126164827/http://all-wrongs-reversed.net/2011/09/28/beneath-the-cherry-trees/ "Beneath the Cherry Trees"] (tr. Morgan Giles)
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120126131223/http://all-wrongs-reversed.net/2011/11/16/blue-sky/ "Blue Sky"] (tr. Morgan Giles)
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080310014415/http://homepage.mac.com/ursako/trans/kajiiaibu.txt "Caress"] (tr. Ursula Owen)
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080310014423/http://homepage.mac.com/ursako/trans/kajiiarugakeue3.0.txt "The Feeling on the Bluff" text] and [https://www.webcitation.org/5OaVq2Lwm?url=http://homepage.mac.com/ursako/trans/kajiiarugakeue3.0.doc annotated Word format] (tr. Ursula Owen)
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110724054318/http://maruchan.sandwich.net/lemon.txt "Lemon"] plus [https://web.archive.org/web/20110724054318/http://maruchan.sandwich.net/lemon-comment.txt a comment] (tr. C Seu)
* [http://www.neworleansreview.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/10_2_3.pdf?056111 "A Musical Derangement"] (tr. Stephen Wechselblatt) in ''New Orleans Review'' (Summer/Fall 1983 Issue)
* [http://intranslation.brooklynrail.org/japanese/under-the-cherry-blossoms "Under the Cherry Blossoms"] (tr. Bonnie Huie) at ''The [[Brooklyn Rail]]''
* [https://www.amazon.de/-/en/dp/B0C1KL6T9J/ref=sr_1_7?keywords=motojiro+kajii&s=digital-text&sr=1-7 "Bildrolle der Finsternis"] (tr. Alexander Specht)
'''Reviews'''
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070927194355/http://www.boheme-magazine.net/php/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=262 A short English review of the French partial edition of ''Remon''] in ''Bohème Magazine'' (July 2004)
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kajii, Motojiro}}
[[Category:Japanese male short story writers]]
[[Category:People from Nishi, Osaka]]
[[Category:Writers from Osaka]]
[[Category:Kyoto University alumni]]
[[Category:University of Tokyo alumni]]
[[Category:20th-century deaths from tuberculosis]]
[[Category:1901 births]]
[[Category:1932 deaths]]
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