The history of Hermann Hesse’s impact in Japan can be traced back to a translation of “Meine Erinnerung an Knulp” (My Memory of Knulp, first published in the magazine
Neue Rundschau in February 1908), which appeared in the first issue of the literary magazine
Subaru in January 1909 under the Japanese title “Tomo” (Friend).
1Subaru was a monthly literary magazine, published from January 1909 to December 1913. It is surprising that it took less than a year for “Meine Erinnerung an Knulp” to be translated into Japanese.
2Cf. Hiroshi Tanaka, “The Reception of Hermann Hesse until the 1930s” (in Japanese), International Management Review 52, Kanagawa Univ. (2016): 81–82. However, it took some time after “Tomo,” roughly until the mid-1930s, for Hesse’s works to be widely read by the general public in Japan. In 1925,
Siddhartha was included in volume twenty-two of the Shinchosha edition of
New Selections of World Literature, and although it attracted a certain amount of attention, at that time it did not receive a great response.
3Ayao Ide, Research on Hermann Hesse—Until the End of World War I— (in Japanese) (Tokyo: Sanshusha, 1972), 2. In 1936, however,
Der Steppenwolf was included in volume ten of Mikasa Shobo’s
Collection of Complete Novels from the World under the Japanese title
Koya no Okami (Wolf in the Wilderness), and
Narziß und Goldmund (Narcissus and Goldmund) was also published as a separate book by Kensetsusha under the title,
Narziß to Goldmund: Yujo no Monogatari (Narcissus and Goldmund: Story of a Friendship).
It was also in 1936 that the first Japanese translation of “Jugendgedenken” by Kenji Takahashi was included in the third volume of Kawade Shobo’s
Complete Masterpiece Short Stories of the World. The following year,
Peter Camenzind was included in
The Complete Works of Hermann Hesse, volume 1, published by Humanité Shoen, and a paperback edition was also published by Iwanami Shoten under the Japanese title
Seishun Hoko (Wandering Youth).
4An edition of the complete works of Hermann Hesse by Humanité Shoen was originally planned as a twelve-volume series, but only the first volume was published. In 1938,
Knulp was published by Iwanami in paperback as
Hyohaku no Tamashii (Wandering Soul) and
Unterm Rad as
Sharin no Shita (Under the Wheel).
Utsukushiki Seishun (Beautiful Youth), containing “Schön ist die Jugend” and four other pieces, and
Fubutsucho (Notes on Scenery), consisting of 30 pieces based on
Bilderbuch (Book of Pictures), were also published in paperback editions by Kaizosha. In part due to the convenience of the paperbacks, Hesse’s works gradually penetrated into the consciousness of a general readership, laying the foundation for his acceptance in Japan. Incidentally, all the above works had different translators, indicating that Hesse was the focus of attention of many translators (mainly scholars of German literature) at the time.
5Toshihiko Katayama wrote in 1939: “It seems that Hesse’s works are beginning to be read more and more widely in Japan. I often hear that Hesse’s works are familiar to people who travel, who work in companies, and who live in school dormitories.” Katayama, “Background of Hermann Hesse’s Literature” (in Japanese), Bungei monthly literary magazine, published by Kaizosha, July 1939, 96. In 1939, the Mikasa Shobo edition of
The Complete Works of Hermann Hesse was published. Of course, it was against the backdrop of the growing acceptance of Hesse at that time that this publishing project was realized. The first volume to be released (volume 3 of the complete collection) was
Kohan no Ie (House by the Lake), translated by Rokurobei Akiyama, containing “Roßhalde” (House by the Lake) and one other story, and the subsequent publication of all the volumes took several years.
During this period, the publication of Hesse’s works by multiple publishers created opportunities for a greater number of readers to experience his writing.
6Hesse’s publisher at the time did not grant exclusive translation rights to any one Japanese translator or publisher, preferring to take advantage of the strong interest in Hesse in Japan and authorize translations by a variety of publishers. Magazines began to introduce and review his work, and even to advertise newly published books. For example, in issue fifty-eight (November 1939) of
Yama to Keikoku (Mountains and Valleys), a leading mountaineering magazine, an advertisement for the Mikasa Shobo edition of
The Complete Works of Hermann Hesse, which had just been published in September, appeared. The advertisement occupied half the page, along with an endorsement by Yasunari Kawabata, the first Japanese recipient of the Nobel Prize for Literature.
7Yasunari Kawabata (1899–1972), novelist, literary critic. International PEN Club Vice President (1958). Under the slogan, “Literature of youth for young mountain people,” Kawabata, reflecting Japan’s perceived ideological affinity with Nazi Germany at the time, described Hesse’s art as “being positioned at the point of integration of traditional German purity and modern intellect, and representative of the ultimate development of realism and romanticism.”
8The Yama to Keikoku, 58 (Tokyo: Yama-Kei Publishers, Nov. 1939), 481. Kawabata considered Hesse essential for understanding the spirit of German writers.
Kawabata was already a leading figure in the literary world at that time, both as a novelist and as a literary critic, and his criticism was recognized as highly authoritative. In addition, he made a great contribution to discovering new talent, and it was said that being recognized by him was like receiving a medal. In that sense as well, the endorsement of Hesse’s works by such an authoritative literary critic must have had a great impact on the Japanese reading scene. And this advertisement, which appealed to the magazine’s mountain- and nature-loving readership, and Kawabata’s endorsement of Hesse’s literary value, provides a glimpse into the complexity of Hesse’s reception at the time.
This early introduction of Hesse to a reading public was followed by increased interest in his works in post-war Japanese society, when people sought new ideals, and peaked with the rise of the counter-cultural youth movement of the 1960s and 1970s when Hesse was enthusiastically read by young people around the world who questioned existing values and sought a return to nature and new forms of society. From the mid-1990s to the 2000s, Japan in particular experienced another great wave of Hesse impact.
Hito wa seijukusuru ni tsurete wakakunaru, the title translated from
Mit der Reife wird man immer jünger (With increasing maturity, one becomes ever younger),
Betrachtungen und Gedichte über das Alter (Observations and Poems about Old Age), both edited by Volker Michels (translations by Asao Okada, Soshisha, 1995), were widely read, not only by Hesse fans but also by a new audience as the issues of aging and death were of growing social concern at the time. Okada went on to translate and publish several more books in the same series, all of which became bestsellers. This was the “second Hesse boom” in Japan. Attention to Hesse, which had stagnated after the 1970s, was rekindled, and the media showed a renewed interest in him. Scholars of Hesse in Japan who created the Hermann Hesse Freundeskreis / Forschungsgruppe Japan (Hermann Hesse Circle of Friends / Research Group Japan) produced two collections of translated letters based on
Hermann Hesse Gesammelte Briefe:9Hermann Hesse Gesammelte Briefe, 4 vols., ed. Ursula and Volker Michels (Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp, 1973, 1979, 1982, 1986). Hesse karano Tegami: Konton o ikinuku tameni- (Letters from Hesse: For Surviving the Chaos, 1995)
10Hesse karano Tegami: Konton o ikinuku tameni, ed. Hermann Hesse Freundeskreis/Forschungsgruppe Japan (Tokyo: Mainichi Shinbun Publishing, 1995). and
Hesse Tamashii no Tegami (Hesse: Letters of the Soul, 1998).
11Hesse Tamashii no Tegami, ed. and trans. Hermann Hesse Freundeskreis/Forschungsgruppe Japan (Tokyo: Mainichi Shinbun Publishing, 1998). Despite their “humble” nature as collections of letters, they unexpectedly struck a chord with readers, and
Hesse e no Izanai (Invitation to Hesse, 1999),
12Hesse e no Izanai, ed. and trans. Hermann Hesse Freundeskreis/Forschungsgruppe Japan (Tokyo: Mainichi Shinbun Publishing, 1999). which introduced Hesse and his works from various angles, was also published. Furthermore, the Japanese public broadcaster NHK produced a special program titled “Mouhitotsu no
Sharin no shita”
(Another Under the Wheel), broadcast in 1997, focusing on Hesse’s work and personality. Each of these was realized during the “second Hesse boom.”