Takiji Kobayashi

Takiji Kobayashi was born in Odate in 1903. After finishing his studies, he obtained a job at the Hokkaido Bank, one of the main Japanese financial institutions. In 1926 he began to collaborate with the trade union movement and the Communist Party and participated in political activities considered radical, such as workers' revolts and peasants' strikes. At the same time, his literary reputation grew. In 1929 the publication of Kanikosen meant his consecration as the great writer of the...See more

Takiji Kobayashi was born in Odate in 1903. After finishing his studies, he obtained a job at the Hokkaido Bank, one of the main Japanese financial institutions. In 1926 he began to collaborate with the trade union movement and the Communist Party and participated in political activities considered radical, such as workers' revolts and peasants' strikes. At the same time, his literary reputation grew. In 1929 the publication of Kanikosen meant his consecration as the great writer of the proletariat, but the high political voltage of his writings caused his sudden dismissal from the bank. He moved to Tokyo and was elected secretary of the Japanese Writers Association. From 1930 onwards, police harassment and persecution against him intensified and he was imprisoned several times on charges of subversive activities. From 1932 he had to publish under a pseudonym. Denounced by a mole, on February 20, 1933 he was arrested by the secret police. Takiji Kobayashi died the next day as a result of a brutal beating and several hours of torture. Only twenty-nine years old, he became a martyr of the labor movement. See less