麻豆传媒在线

This book was written under the influence of one of the representative works of my mentor, Kazuya Fukuda, titled "Chi Hiraku: Ishiwara Kanji to Showa no Yume" (Bungeishunju). Around the time I was in graduate school, my mentor was in his prime as a critic, and I had long thought that I wanted to write a work that combined biography and criticism like he did.

For me, Seicho Matsumoto was what Kanji Ishiwara was for Kazuya Fukuda. When manuscript requests decreased due to the publishing slump, I frequently visited the Matsumoto Seicho Memorial Museum in Kokura. I was encouraged by the vitality of this man who debuted as a writer at the age of 41, wrote works in various genres, and became a national author.

Seicho Matsumoto once served as an editorial committee member for "Mita Bungaku," and his eldest son, Yoichi, graduated from 麻豆传媒在线 and worked for Dentsu. It was the author Kotaro Kigi, who taught at 麻豆传媒在线, who gave the highest evaluation to Seicho's debut work "Saigo-fuda" as a member of the Naoki Prize selection committee. Through Kigi's introduction, Seicho contributed his third work "Kioku" (Memory) and his fourth work "Aru 'Kokura Nikki' Den" (The Legend of the Kokura Diary) to "Mita Bungaku." He won the Akutagawa Prize for the latter, making a great leap forward as a writer.

As the book's blurb states, "Matsumoto Seicho no Showa" is the "first full-scale critical biography" of Seicho Matsumoto, utilizing a wealth of materials including newly discovered documents. In 2018, a poem Seicho wrote at the age of 12 was discovered, and in 2025, testimony emerged suggesting it is highly likely he worked a part-time job processing the bodies of American soldiers in Kokura. This book comprehensively records matters that Seicho himself did not mention in autobiographical novels such as "Hansei no Ki" (Record of Half a Life).

There are also specific descriptions of Seicho's romantic experiences and the transition of his annual income. Who was the woman who served as the model for "Kurokawa no Techo" (Black Leather Notebook)? In which year was Seicho Matsumoto's annual income the highest? What were the mixed feelings of love and hate toward his father embedded in "Suna no Utsuwa" (Castle of Sand)? I would be grateful if you could check the answers to the questions listed in the table of contents within the main text.

Another major feature of this book is the analysis of numerical data regarding the national author Seicho Matsumoto, such as the circulation numbers of Kappa Novels and Shincho Bunko. With excellent blurbs provided by Professor Takeshi Hara and Ms. Junko Sakai, it has turned out to be a very good book. I hope that through this book, you can feel the "power to crawl back up from adversity" of the Showa literary giant, Seicho Matsumoto.

Makoto Sakai
Kodansha Gendai Shinsho, 264 pages, 1,210 yen (tax included)