Shichiro Kosoizawa, rebellious storyteller---1971

Shichiro Kosoizawa, rebellious storyteller---1971

Shichirou Ozawa was a writer of strong distinction in postwar Japanese literature, and his masterpiece Narayama Bushiyo (1956) is a problematic work that depicts postwar poverty, aging, the family system, and the ethics of community in a folk tale-like narrative.

Taking as its subject the custom of "ubasai," the practice of reducing the mouths of the elderly, the film depicts the ethics of a village community under extreme conditions, familial love, and the dignity of aging, while sharply questioning the nature of human cruelty and survival. While the narrative is simple, it contains an anti-modern and anti-moral viewpoint, which caused a great impact and controversy in Japan in the 1950s, when postwar democratic ideals were beginning to permeate the country.

He was a free-spirit who distanced himself from commercialism and state power, and in addition to his creative writing, wrote lyrics to songs and satirical texts, and was also described as an "anarchist writer.

In particular, in 1960, he was threatened by a right-wing group for a short story he had written (which included criticism of the emperor), and was forced to go into hiding for a long period of time. This incident is recorded as the "Fukazawa Shichiro Threatening Incident.

At the time of this magazine's publication in 1970, the student movement was on the wane, but awareness of the problems with the Security Treaty and the Emperor System remained deep-rooted among the intellectual class. The presence of Sosawa highlighted the gap between the "democratic ideals" of the postwar era and the "oppressive structure of reality," and was also a symbol of criticism of the system.

His works and way of life embodied the rebellious intellectuals of postwar Japan.