TOKUTOMI ROKA

(1868–1927)

   Tokutomi Roka, given name Kenjiro, was a novelist born in Kumamoto Prefecture, younger brother to author Tokutomi Soho. While attending what is now Doshisha University in Kyoto, he was influenced by Christianity, especially the writings of Leo Tolstoy. Later, on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, he met Tolstoy at his Russian estate. His traveler’s journal, Junrei kiko (1906; tr. Five days at Iasnaya Poliana, 1986), is a valuable literary work. Tokutomi’s most famous work was Hototogisu (The Cuckoo, 1898), and his prose poem Shizen to Jinsei (Nature and Man, 1900) was critically acclaimed. Tokutomi died following an illness. After his death, his widow donated his estate to Tokyo and it is now a park. His legacy is preserved as well by a memorial park in Kumamoto and a literary museum in Gunma Prefecture.

   See also CHRISTIAN LITERATURE; WOMEN IN LITERATURE.