The Truth Seen Beyond the Fall: A Portrait of Ango Sakaguchi and Postwar Literature (1906-1955)

The Truth Seen Beyond the Fall: A Portrait of Ango Sakaguchi and Postwar Literature (1906-1955)

Ango Sakaguchi (October 20, 1906 - February 17, 1955) was an iconic writer of postwar Japanese literature who left a diverse mark as a novelist and critic. His real name was Sakaguchi Byungo. He was born into an old family in Niigata City, where his father was a prominent local lawyer and city councilor. Although he was blessed with intellectual stimulation from an early age, he was drawn to nihilism and decadence from early on, and eventually entered the philosophy department of the Faculty of Letters at Waseda University. While still a student, he began writing and honed a sharp critical eye that questioned established values.

Ango became the word of the age with his critique "The Fall" (1946), which was published shortly after the defeat of Japan in World War II. This essay, which declared that "human beings are fallible" amidst the moral confusion and chaos of the postwar period, created a buzz as a refutation of fastidiousness and idealism. Through the paradox that the essence of human nature lies in the fall, Ango's unique view of mankind was presented, breaking through hypocrisy and affirming the reality of human existence. This view is consistently expressed in other critiques such as "Hakubutsu-ron" and "Guru no bungaku" (Literature of the Guru).

In his works of fiction, his ideas are developed even more vividly. In "Hakuchi," for example, he depicts a mentally handicapped woman and the people around her, while bringing to light a somewhat innocent and sublime humanity. Under the Cherry Blossoms in Full Blossom" is a fantastical tale of a bandit and a beautiful woman, depicting the fine line between beauty and madness, and strongly influenced later generations as a masterpiece of fantasy literature. The Discontinuous Murder Case" was also highly acclaimed as an authentic mystery novel, and it brought a breath of fresh air to the mystery world of the time. The Princess Yonagatohime and the Ear Man" is an allegorical work that contains human desires and sorrows in a bizarre setting, and together with "The Cherry Blossom Forest," it is one of the twin masterpieces of Ango's fantasy literature.

Other representative works by Ango Sakaguchi include "Senso to Hitorino Onna (War and a Woman)," "Kaze Doctor (Dr. Wind)," and "Dokagami (The Mirror of the Road). In "Senso to Hitorino Onna" (War and a Woman), Sakaguchi confronts the themes of war, sex, loneliness, and death, and presents a dense portrait of human beings adrift in the chaos of the postwar era. Dr. Wind," an early work, is a surrealist-influenced tale of humor and absurdity. In "Dokagami," he takes as his subject the life of Dokagami, a mysterious monk of the Nara period (710-794), while deconstructing the complex structure of power, belief, and desire.

Although he is often discussed along with the writers of the "Mujo-ha" school that emerged after World War II, such as Osamu Dazai and Sakunosuke Oda, Ango confronts the ethical collapse of a defeated Japan more directly than they do, and in the midst of this, he pursues a fundamental image of humanity. However, Ango stands out from these writers in that he confronts the ethical collapse of defeated Japan head-on and pursues the fundamental nature of human nature in the midst of such a collapse. His style is a mixture of logical construction and passionate paradox that strongly engages the reader.

Ango died suddenly in 1955 at the age of only 48, but his ideas and expressions have not faded away. Ango Sakaguchi's rejection of hypocrisy, affirmation of weakness, and insight into the nature of human nature - his literature continues to be an inescapable mirror in which Japanese people can live in the postwar era.