literate children, and more children’s books. The first step, just as in the Edo Era, was
to produce children’s versions of traditional literature. The most successful writer was
Sazanami Iwaya (1870–1932). His contribution to children’s literature can be divided
into three genres: children’s versions of myths and tales, literary fairy tales, and realistic
short stories. The most celebrated of them all was Koganemaru [Koganemaru, the Dog
who Avenged his Parents] (1891), generally reputed to be the starting point for modern
Japanese children’s literature. Most of Sazanami’s characters were active, cheerful and
full of a strong sense of justice, and the story is simple, straightforward and full of
action, with a very clear theme.
Taishô Era: 1912–1926The First World War brought remarkable changes even to a small island country in the
Far East. Japan was reconstructed as a capitalist country, and became relatively
prosperous. During this Indian summer, which might be compared with the Edwardian
period in Britain, the urban educated classes became liberal and democratic in their
views. Naturally, Sazanami’s work, with its practical but rather old-fashioned morals
based on a feudal way of thinking was severely criticised, and new writers began to look
for different kinds of stories; they were influenced by literary fairy tales such as
Andersen’s Eventyrs and Wilhelm Hauf’s Kunstmärchen.
In 1910, Mimei Ogawa (1882–1961) published Akai Fune [A Red Ship], including short
stories of children’s everyday life, an adventure story and literary fairy tales, in which he
attempted to explore children’s thoughts and actions. In all, he wrote around a
thousand tales for children, the best of which were included in Kin no Wa [The Golden
Hoop] (1919) and Akai Rôsoku to Ningyo [A Little Mermaid and Red Candles] (1921). His
fairy stories are full of vivid and stimulating images which symbolise his themes, and he
was very influential before 1945. Since then, however, his work has been severely
criticised on social and political grounds.
Hirosuke Hamada (1893–1973) was well known for stories such as Mukudori no Yume
[Dream of the Little Grey Starling] (1920) and Taishô no Dôzô [The Statue of a General]
(1920). He was regarded as an innovator of literature for small children for whom most of
his stories were written; his real achievement was to make stories with major themes
accessible to a younger audience.
A poet and agricultural chemist, Kenji Miyazawa (1896–1933) wrote stories in the fairy
tale mode partly to propagate the doctrine of the Lotus Sutra. One of his masterpieces,
Ginga Tetsudô no Yoro [A Night Train in the Milky Way] (1924– c.1932), which tells of a
boy’s dream journey, has a large-scale setting reminiscent of Hans Andersen, and vivid,
poetic and symbolic images reminiscent of George MacDonald. The simple and original
characters and the clear imagery mark him as a gifted fantasy writer.
The market for boys’ and girls’ magazines expanded with economic growth. One of the
most celebrated, Akai Tori [Red Bird] (1918–1936) was published by the novelist Miekichi
Suzuki (1882–1936) with the cooperation of the poet Hakushuh Kitahara (1885–1942).
This poet, holding the view that ‘the child is father of the man’, published many poems
and verses for children, encouraged promising young poets, and was largely responsible
for a golden age of poetry for children. Shôzô Chiba (1892–1975), editor of another
JAPAN 827