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Shofu Muramatsu


  • Biography
1889-1961. Writer. Muramatsu published “Kotohime Monogatari” (The Tale of Kotohime) in the magazine Chuo Koron in 1917 and started life as a writer after withdrawing from Keio University. He gained popularity with his critical biographies, such as Kinsei Meishoden (Biography of Contemporary Master Craftsmen) and Honcho Gajinden (Biography of the Imperial Court Painter). The Kikuchi Award winning writer Takashi Muramatsu is his son, and the Naoki Award winning writer Tomomi Muramatsu is his grandson.

  • Association with Minato City
His training years spent in Shiba Shinmei that retained the atmosphere of Edo

Muramatsu could not get used to rural life in his hometown of Shizuoka and began living in a room in the Usuda Inn in Shiba Shinmei when he started attending Keio University. Although not as many as Asakusa, the area of Shinmei Daijingu Shrine from the end of Meiji to Taisho had rows of meeting places, geisha houses, and taverns. Muramatsu developed his observant eye as a writer by amusing himself every night in Yoshiwara, Sunosaki, and Shinagawa, with Shiba Shinmei as his base. He later wrote reflectively that Shinmei in Shiba was the only place in Tokyo that retained the atmosphere of Edo and described expressively in his collection of essays Jokyo (A Woman’s Testament) about his love affair with a woman from Shoju that he met at a bow shop in Shiba Shinmei.

References
Nihon Jinmei Daijiten (Japanese Biographical Dictionary) (Kodansha)
Watashi no Rirekisho: Bunkajin 1 (My Resume: Literati 1) (Nihon Keizai Shimbunsha)
Jokyo (Chuko Koronsha)

  • Walking Points
Shiba Daijingu Shrine (1-12-7, Shiba Daimon)

  • Literary Works
Honcho Gajinden 8 volumes (Biography of the Imperial Court Painter) (Chuo Koronsha)
Mato (Devil’s City) (Yumani Shobo)
Jokyo (A Woman’s Testament) (Chuko Bunko)
Danso no Reijin (Beauty in Male Attire) (Chuo Koronsha)
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  • Related Publications
Kamakura no Obasan (Auntie in Kamakura) (Tomomi Muramatsu / Shincho Bunko)
Kuroi Hanabira (Black Petals) (Tomomi Muramatsu / Kawade Shobo Shinsha)
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