Tokuda Shusei Kinenkan Museum

Tokuda Shusei was called “Born Naturalist”.

"I was born at a most terrible time, "Tokuda Shusei explains in his own words of being born into the chaos of the Meiji restoration and his destitute, sickly childhood in Kanazawa. He went on to become a pupil of the famous author Ozaki Koyo and tackle the "immovable reality" around him as it truly was. His masterpieces, produced in rapid succession and written "without excess," secured his position in the "slice-of-life" Naturalistic movement. The museum contains over 600 pieces of writing, including Shusei's five best-known works, Mold, Rough Living, Episode, Masquerade, and Miniature, all of which are introduced using paper dolls and video interpretations of their respective heroines. We hope that by immersing yourself in his writings, you will come to understand Tokuda Shusei as a man who shared a deep connection with the Asanogawa River and the foothills of Mt. Utatsuyama, and how this fondness colored his works.

Biography of Tokuda Shusei

Year	Age
1871	1	Born on December 23rd in present-day Yokoyama-cho, Kanazawa. Given the name Sueo. Third son and sixth child of Tokuda Unpei.
1892	22	Goes to Tokyo with Kiryu Yuyu at the end of March. Tries to visit Ozaki Koyo, but is told by Izumi Kyoka, who is acting as doorkeeper, that the writer is not home. Mails Ozaki his manuscript, but it is returned. Kiryu returns to Kanazawa for school and Shusei goes to Osaka to stay with his eldest brother, Naomatsu.
1895	25	Returns to Tokyo and works at Hakubunkan as a live-in proofreader. Becomes Ozaki Koyo's apprentice on Kyoka's recommendation.
1900	30	Where the Clouds Go is serialized in The Yomirui Shimbun, where it receives favorable literary reviews. Hailed as one of the "Four Kings" apprenticing with Ozaki Koyo.
1904	34	Registers Hama as his wife in March.
1908	38	New Households serialized in The Kokumin Shimbun in October, and praised for its realism.
1911	41	Mold serialized in The Tokyo Asahi Shimbun. Detailing his married life with Hama, it receives high praise, establishing him as a naturalistic author.
1913	43	Sore, his most mature work yet, serialized in The Kokumin Shimbun.
1915	45	Rough Living serialized in The Yomiuri Shimbum starting in January.
1920	50	Fiftieth birthday celebration held for him and Tayama Katai in November.
1926	56	Wife Hama dies suddenly on January 2nd of a cerebral apoplexy, at the age of 46.
1930	60	Takes up dance in March under the instruction of Tamaki Shinkichi. Practically stops writing.
1932	62	In May, starts the Shusei Group (later to become the Arakure Group) with Nakamura Murao, Murou Saisei, Ozaki Shiro, Ibuse Masuji, and Funahashi Seiichi.
1933	63	Receives an award in March for The Town Dancehall published in Keizai Ourai, which ends his slump of several years.
1935	65	In July, serialization of Masquerade begins in Keizai Ourai (later renamed Nihon Hyoron).
1938	68	In January, Autobiographical novel Follow the Light serialized in Fujin no Tomo.
1939	69	Masquerade receives the 1st Kikuchi Kan Award in March.
1941	71	Miniature serialized in The Miyako Shimbun in June, but is cancelled by the Department of Information.
1942	72	Begins writing Snow of My Hometown (unfinished).
1943	73	In July, prepares his final work, On My Sickbed, for printing. Passes away November 18th.

Information

Hours

9:30am ~ 5:00pm (No admission after 4:30pm)
Closed New Year's (Dec 29 ~ Jan 3), Exhibition changeovers
Starting in July 2021, the museum will be closed on Tuesdays (or the next weekday if Tuesday is a holiday).