KOBAYASHI TAKIJI

Kobayashi Takiji was a renowned author of proletarian literature. His most famous work, the novel Kanikosen (1929; tr. The Factory Ship, 1956), detailed the oppression of Hokkaido fishermen and the inner working of unions. He joined the Japanese Communist Party in 1931 and two years later, at age 29, was beaten to death by police during an interrogation.

See also MARXISM; THOUGHT POLICE.