Ango Sakaguchi and the Quest for Freedom

Ango Sakaguchi and the Quest for Freedom

Ango Sakaguchi (1906-1955) was a leading postwar Japanese writer who pursued the essence of freedom through his "The Fall" (1946). He believed that liberation from morality and tradition was the key to restoring the true nature of human beings, and argued that "only through depravity is man fit to live. He also advocated new values through his criticism of madness and culture in "Hakuchi" (The Moron) and "Nihon bunka privaten" (Private Views of Japanese Culture). Ango's theories of freedom gave hope to people living in the chaos of the postwar period and contributed to the reconstruction of values in society. His ideas continue to resonate today as universal questions.