Anchored in Laughter: Kita Tofu (July 1974)

Anchored in Laughter: Kita Tofu (July 1974)
Tofu Kita (1927-2011) was a psychiatrist and a standard-bearer of humorous literature, who breathed new life into postwar Japanese literature. In 1974, he said in a magazine that "literature that is too serious is placed outside of the reader," and redefined laughter as the fundamental energy of literature.
At a time when postwar literature was biased toward ideology and political ideas, widening the distance between literature and its readers, Kita positioned laughter as the "language of life. This stance is in contrast to that of Kenzaburo Oe, who was more political, and Yukio Mishima, who pursued stylistic beauty. By embracing tragedy with laughter, Kita's literature affirmed human life and eased emptiness and weariness.
He also had a psychiatrist's eye for observation in his laughter, and saw laughter as an act of forgiveness for human weakness. In the stagnant society of the 1970s, his laughter was a breath of fresh air in the malaise of the times, and it continues to be read today as a symbol of "light and deep literature. His works continue to be read today as a symbol of "light and deep literature.