Mini Biography: Osamu Dazai

 Mini Bio for a Proposed Anthology.

Dazai Osamu, born Tsushima Shūji, was an influential Japanese writer who shaped post-war Japanese literature. While some of his prominent works, including Shayō (The Setting Sun) and Ningen Shikkaku (No Longer Human), are considered classics inside Japan, his influence is limited elsewhere. His work was transparent and honest, capturing many parts of his life and the society around him that other authors were hesitant to display. His work was heavily criticized for this fact, and he was one of the first members of the literary category Buraiha (The Decadent School). Along with the works of Sakaguchi Ango and Oda Sakunosuke, Dazai’s writing centers around anti-heroes struggling with the depression and unfocused identity crises present in post-WWII Japan. The Buraiha, along with their literary companionship, were close friends, often meeting for drinks over the years of their acquaintance. These writers faced critique for their “decadent” behavior and the honesty with which they portrayed their stories. The Buraiha, however controversial at the time, had a large effect on Japanese records of daily existence. 

Born in Northern Japan in 1909, Tsushima was captivated by writing from a very young age. By the time he was in university, he was already a prolific writer, drawing inspiration from Edo culture and gidayū, as well as from writers such as Fyodor Dostoyevsky and Akutagawa Ryūnosuke. In university, Tsushima was active in his school’s newspaper society and writing community, drawing all he could from these experiences. 

This passion was stilled, however, when one of his significant inspirations, Akutagawa Ryūnosuke, committed suicide. Tsushima’s mental health began steadily declining at this point and he started investing less in his studies and more into prostitutes and alcohol. At the nadir of this spiral was his first suicide attempt, taking place on December 10, 1929, which he survived. The following year, he was able to graduate from Hirosaki University where he had been studying, and he immediately enrolled in the French Literature Department of Tokyo Imperial University, where he became a somewhat neglectful student. 

Tsushima ran from Tokyo the following fall in the company of a geisha named Hatsuyo Oyama and was promptly disowned by his family. Nine days following his expulsion from Tokyo Imperial University, Tsushima attempted a double suicide with Shineko Tanabe, a bar hostess. Shimeko passed, but Tsushima was rescued by a fishing boat and legally questioned for Shimeko’s death. Charges were dropped and Tsushima moved to Ikarigaseki, where he married Hatsuyo. At this time, he began involving himself with communism, which prompted his brother to cut him off entirely, stopping the stream of allowance that had been supporting Tsushima and Hatsuyo. After going into hiding, a letter made its way to him from his brother, offering to reinstate his allowance if Tsushima cut ties with communism and re-enrolled in college. Agreeing to the proposition, Tsushima began writing again while in school, publishing his first works under the pen name Dazai Osamu.

 It was during this period that the writer developed his distinct first-person style, and his works began to grow with him. After five years of training, it became increasingly clear that he was unable to graduate from college, so he began working on his collection Bannen (The Final Years) which he intended to be published posthumously. It was at this point that Dazai incurred his third graze with death through an unsuccessful suicide by hanging on March 19, 1935. Three weeks following this attempt, he was hospitalized to treat a case of appendicitis, an occurrence that led to an addiction to Pavinal, a pain medication. After a year of grappling with this addiction, Dazai was institutionalized and forced to quit. While in the mental hospital, Hatsuyo had an affair with Dazai’s close friend. When he returned, Dazai and Hatsuyo attempted double suicide, but, when neither died, settled for a divorce. Dazai remarried soon after, having his first child with Michiko Ishihara in 1941. 

Throughout the 1930s-40s, Dazai wrote several semi-autobiographical novels with distinct themes of alienation and suicide. When Japan entered the Pacific war in 1941, the author was excused from the draft due to tuberculosis, which allowed him to continue writing, slowly becoming a notable figure through his retellings of legends and fairy tales. In July of 1947, Dazai wrote his most notable work. Entitled Shayō (The Setting Sun), the novel detailed the trials of post-war life, noting the effects on Japanese nobility. The story was based on the diary of Ōta Shizuko, a fan of Dazai’s writing. In 1947, Ōta gave birth to his child, a daughter named Haruko. In the same year, Oda Sakunosuke, a close friend of Dazai’s and fellow writer, passed away due to a lung hemorrhage. Odasaku, as he was informally called, was a writer who focused on the experiences of joy, sadness, and frailty through stories of ordinary people. Dazai was incredibly impacted by this event, later publishing a eulogy to blame critics for his friend’s departure.

After this affair and death, Dazai fell further into old habits, becoming an alcoholic once more and leaving his family to elope with beautician Yamazaki Tomie to Ōmiya. It was at this point that Dazai Osamu began writing Ningen Shikkaku (No Longer Human), a vague quasi-autobiography detailing the life of a man consumed by feelings of isolation that separate him from humanity. This novel is considered a classic of Japanese literature and is Dazai’s most well-known work outside of his home country. 

During the spring of 1948, Dazai began working with the Asahi Shimbun newspaper to serially publish his final novel, entitled Guddo Bai (Goodbye). This book was never completed, as Dazai and Tomie’s bodies were found in the Tamagawa Canal on June 19 of that year. 

Dazai’s final suicide attempt took place on June 13, 1948, in the company of Yamazaki. Investigators observed the scene and determined that, by evidence surrounding the deaths, Dazai may have been forced into suicide by his companion. Nakahata Kekichi, a merchant who was familiar with the Tsushima family, speculated that “Dazai was asked to die, and he simply agreed, but just before his death, he suddenly felt an obsession with life.”

Tsushima Shūji’s grave sits at the temple of Zenrin-ji in Mitaka, Tokyo. 

The writings of Dazai Osamu are undoubtedly some of the most influential pieces of literature to come out of Japan during the twentieth century, and his impact on the culture of realistic storytelling is undeniable.