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Tatsuhiko Shibusawa

Born

in Tokyo, Japan

May 08, 1928

Died

August 05, 1987

Genre

Religion & Spirituality, Literature & Fiction

Influences

André Breton, Marquis de Sade, Jean Cocteau ...more

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Shibusawa was born in the upper-class neighborhood of Takanawa in Tokyo. His father was a banker, and his mother was the daughter of an industrialist and politician. He was distantly related to the famous Shibusawa Eiichi. While going through high school during World War II, he had the ambition to be an aeronautical engineer. However, the possibilities for a career in that field disappeared with Japan's defeat in the war, and Shibusawa received notably poor scores in the German language, which was widely used in engineering at the time. He turned his attention to study of the French language instead.

In 1950, after working as an editor at the Modern Nihon magazine under Junnosuke Yoshiyuki for two years (one of the authors he edited was Hisa Shibusawa was born in the upper-class neighborhood of Takanawa in Tokyo. His father was a banker, and his mother was the daughter of an industrialist and politician. He was distantly related to the famous Shibusawa Eiichi. While going through high school during World War II, he had the ambition to be an aeronautical engineer. However, the possibilities for a career in that field disappeared with Japan's defeat in the war, and Shibusawa received notably poor scores in the German language, which was widely used in engineering at the time. He turned his attention to study of the French language instead.

In 1950, after working as an editor at the Modern Nihon magazine under Junnosuke Yoshiyuki for two years (one of the authors he edited was Hisao Juran), Shibusawa entered the University of Tokyo's school of French literature, where he enthusiastically embraced the avant-garde movement of surrealism, which started in France after World War I. He was especially attracted to André Breton, and this led him to learn of the works of the Marquis de Sade.

Although Shibusawa did graduate from a master's course at the University of Tokyo, he had to abandon plans to become a professor because of tuberculosis, and started his career as a freelance writer instead. He relocated from Tokyo to the resort town of Kamakura, Kanagawa prefecture in 1946, due to its reputation for having a healthful climate for lung disorders, and continued to live there to his death.

After publishing his first book, a translation of Jean Cocteau's Le Grand Ecart (大跨びらき) in 1954, Shibusawa began to introduce French literature to Japanese readers through his translations. With the death of his father, he faced financial difficulties, and obtained a part-time job at the publishing company Iwanami Shoten, where he met his future wife, Sumiko Yagawa, who was also a translator and author. During this period, he also briefly flirted with politics, supporting the Japan Communist Party in an election for the mayor of Miura, Kanagawa by joining political rallies and distribution leaflets satirizing the opposing candidate.

In 1959, Shibusawa published Akutoku no sakae (悪徳の栄え), a translation of de Sade's L’Histoire de Juliette; ou, Les Prosperites du vice. The work was immediately controversial, and in 1960, he and Kyōji Ishii (石井恭二 Ishii Kyōji?), the publisher, were prosecuted for public obscenity. During the trial, which is called Sade Trial (サド裁判) in Japan, Kenzaburō Ōe, Shūsaku Endō, Shōhei Ōoka and many other authors testified for the defense. However, in 1969, in an important decision, the Japanese Supreme Court ruled that Shibusawa and Ishii were guilty. He was fined 70,000 yen (slightly less than US$200 at the time); the triviality of the sum greatly outraged him, given the nine years that the trial had taken from his life.

Shibusawa, although discouraged, was not deterred, and continued to write works on eroticism and to translate the works of de Sade, as well as other French authors; he also produced essays and art criticism, and became a specialist in the study of medieval demonology.

In September 1970, Shibusawa made his first overseas trip, a vacation to Europe. He was seen off at Haneda Airport by his close friend Mishima Yukio. Madame de Sade by Mishima (1965) is entirely based on Shibusawa's The Life of Marquis de Sade (サド侯爵の生涯, 1964); but on the other hand, today it is known that Shibusawa himself plagiarized his own work largely from Vie du Marquis de Sade by Gilbert Lely (1961). In The Temple of Dawn (1969), Mishima created Yasushi Imanishi (今西康 Imanishi Yasushi?) based on Shibusawa's personality.

1981 he published a fantasy novel titled Karakusa Monogatari (“Karakusa Story”). Other fantasy novels include Utsuro-bune (“Hollow ship”) and Takaoka Shinno Kokai-ki (“The Voyages of Prince Takaoka”).

Shibusawa died of larynx cancer in 1987. His grave is at the temple of Jochi-ji in Kamakura.

(from Wikipedia) ...more

Combine Editions
Tatsuhiko Shibusawa’s books

Average rating: 3.63 · 311 ratings · 60 reviews · 89 distinct works

	Takaoka's Travels by Tatsuhiko Shibusawa, David Boyd (Translator) 3.60 avg rating — 221 ratings — published 1987	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	毒药手帖 by Tatsuhiko Shibusawa, 澁澤龍彦, 余梦娇 (Translator) 3.33 avg rating — 12 ratings — published 1984 — 7 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	黑魔法手帖 by Tatsuhiko Shibusawa, 澁澤龍彦 3.56 avg rating — 9 ratings — published 1983 — 7 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	夢の宇宙誌 by Tatsuhiko Shibusawa, 澁澤龍彦 4.29 avg rating — 7 ratings — published 2006 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	快楽主義の哲学 by Tatsuhiko Shibusawa, 澁澤龍彦 4.50 avg rating — 6 ratings — published 1996	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	令人戰慄的妖人奇人傳 by Tatsuhiko Shibusawa, 澁澤龍彦, 王聰霖 (Translator) 3.29 avg rating — 7 ratings — published 2006 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	世界悪女物語 by Tatsuhiko Shibusawa, 澁澤龍彦 4.40 avg rating — 5 ratings — published 1982 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Le Voyage sur les mers du prince Takaoka by Tatsuhiko Shibusawa, Patrick Honore (translator) liked it 3.00 avg rating — 6 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Cosmography of Dream 4.25 avg rating — 4 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	異端の肖像 really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 4 ratings — published 2008 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Quotes by Tatsuhiko Shibusawa (?)

“The enlightenment you receive through religious training and the enlightenment you receive from drugs are, in the end, one and the same.”
― Tatsuhiko Shibusawa

tags: humor

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