Kōda Rohan

Kōda Rohan
Born
Kōda Shigeyuki

(1867-07-23)23 July 1867
Tokyo, Japan
Died30 July 1947(1947-07-30) (aged 80)
Tokyo, Japan
Other names幸田 露伴、幸田 成行
Occupationauthor
FamilyNobu Kōda (sister), Kou Ando (sister)

Kōda Shigeyuki (幸田 成行, 23 July 1867 – 30 July 1947), pen name Kōda Rohan (幸田 露伴), was a Japanese author. His daughter, Aya Kōda, was also a noted author who often wrote about him.

Kōda wrote "The Icon of Liberty", also known as "The Buddha of Art" or "The Elegant Buddha", in 1889. A house (Kagyu-an or "snail cottage") in which Kōda lived was rebuilt in 1972 by the Meiji Mura museum. Kōda was one of the first persons to be awarded the Order of Culture when it was established in 1937.

Early life

Rohan was born in the Kanda District of Tokyo. He went to Hibiya High School and Aoyama Gakuin, but he did not graduate from both schools. He was the son of Koda Shigenobu (1839?--1914) and Koda Yu (1842?-1919), whose father was Koda Ritei, a samurai official serving under the local daimyō. Rohan's childhood name was Tetsushiro ("shiro" implying the fourth son) Shigeyuki.

Notable short stories

Poems

  • Leaving the Hermitage (1905)

Novels

  • The Whaler (1891)
  • The Minute Storehouse of Life (unfinished)

In fiction

See also

References

  • Mulhern, Rohan Kishibe - Koda Rohan, Twayne Publishers, 1977
  • Rimer, J. Thomas - The Columbia Anthology Of Modern Japanese Literature, Columbia University Press 2005