Tayama Katai (1872-1930) is widely acknowledged as the leading figure of Japanese naturalism, a complex movement that peaked around 1907-09, and one that is often misunderstood and often unjustifiably criticised both in Japan and internationally. (See entry on Japanese Naturalism.) Though his name is almost always associated with naturalism, Katai did have a literary career both before and after the movement. Moreover, his literary career as a whole reflects changes in his perception of nature, which can be seen as a spectrum of evolving conceptual models of nature. Rather than naturalism
per se, it is this “search” for nature that characterises Katai's literary career as a whole.
Katai was born Tayama Rokuya on 22 January 1872. (Some texts give 13 December 1871, but this ignores the
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Citation: Henshall, Kenneth George. "Tayama Katai". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 24 March 2010 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=12635, accessed 22 November 2024.]
