Tokuda Shusei

(pen name of Tokuda Sueo). Born Dec. 23, 1871, in the city of Kanazawa; died Nov. 18,1943. Japanese writer. Member of the Japan Academy (1937).

Tokuda studied under Ozaki Koyo. Traits of naturalism were apparent in his first novel, The New Household (1908). In most of his works, Tokuda impartially depicted scenes from the dreary lives of simple people, for example, in the novels Mildew (1911), Dissipation (1915), and Ashes (1920). In the novel A Disguised Man (1938), which consists of several “tales about myself, ” he told the story of a love he experienced late in life. Tokuda’s works are important examples of Japanese naturalism.