11 Facts About Michio Takeyama

Michio Takeyama was a Japanese writer, literary critic and scholar of German literature, active in Showa period Japan.

On returning home in 1932, Michio Takeyama taught German language as a professor at the First Higher School, and translated works of German literature into Japanese.

In 1944, Michio Takeyama relocated to Kamakura, Kanagawa prefecture after his home in Tokyo was destroyed in the air raids.

Michio Takeyama lived in Kamakura until his death in 1984.

In 1948, he wrote Scars, set in northern China, which Michio Takeyama had visited in 1931 and 1938.

In 1950, during the height of the popularity of socialism in Japanese politics, Michio Takeyama again spoke out, this time against Stalinism, and warned that totalitarianism can come from the left end of the political spectrum, as well as the right.

In 1951, Michio Takeyama resigned his teaching position in favor of literary criticism, publishing Showa no Seishin-shi and Ningen ni Tsuite ; however, throughout his career, Michio Takeyama had a very diverse range of interests.

In 1959, Michio Takeyama created a literary magazine, Jiyu, together with fellow novelist Hirabayashi Taiko.

Michio Takeyama wrote Yoroppa no Tabi and Maboroshi to Shinjitsu: Watashi no Sobieto Kembun, in which he analyzed Western civilization and his perception of the failure of the communist system in the Soviet Union.

Michio Takeyama became a member of the Japan Art Academy in 1983, and in the same year he was awarded the Kikuchi Kan Prize for an anthology of eight of his most notable works.

Michio Takeyama died in 1984, and his grave is at the Kamakura Reien Cemetery.