NAGAI KAFU

Nagai Kafu, given name Sokichi, was the half-brother of Takami Jun. He attended a foreign-language college studying Chinese but dropped out to pursue the writing career he had begun to develop while studying with Hirotsu Ryuro. Nagai is best known for his depiction of early 20th-century Tokyo entertainment districts. His works include Amerika monogatari (1908; tr. American Stories, 1999) and Ude kurabe (1916–17; tr. Geisha in Rivalry, 1963).

See also MODERN THEATER; NATURALISM; SATO HARUO; THEATER REFORM.