KATO SHUICHI

(1919–)

   Kato Shuichi is a novelist, literary and social critic, medical doctor, and cultural scholar from Tokyo. He graduated in medicine from Tokyo University and while still studying there joined with Nakamura Shin’ichiro and Fukunaga Takehiko to found the literary journal Matinee Poetique in which he published poetry, literary criticism, and novels. After World War II, he became a self-sufficient writer. In 1951, Kato traveled abroad to France to study medicine but continued to contribute to literary journals while there. In 1956, he wrote one of his most famous works, the essay Zasshu bunka (Hybrid Culture), which looked at historical materialism from a Marxist perspective. In more recent years, he has been a guest professor at many universities and succeeded Hayashi Tatsuo as editor-in-chief of the Heibonsha Sekai Daihyakka jiten (World Encyclopedia).