KINOSHITA NAOE

Kinoshita Naoe, socialist, activist, and author, graduated from Waseda University, worked as a newspaper reporter and lawyer, and was baptized a Christian a few years later. Shortly thereafter, he began to take a firm stand on issues of mine pollution, women’s rights, and universal suffrage. A pacifist prior to and during the Russo-Japanese War, he published the antiwar novel Hi no hashira (1903–4; tr. Pillar of Fire, 1972), writing for the masses in the genbun itchi style.

See also FEMINISM; MILITARISM; NOGAMI YAEKO; WAR LITERATURE.