26 Facts About Tomoyoshi Murayama

Tomoyoshi Murayama was a Japanese artist, play writer, novelist and drama producer active during the Showa period in Japan.

Tomoyoshi Murayama's father, who was a medic in the Imperial Japanese Navy, died when he was nine years old.

Tomoyoshi Murayama's mother became a fervent Christian after having been converted by Uchimura Kanzo, and was active in the pacifist movement.

Tomoyoshi Murayama was initially encouraged towards watercolors and traditional Japanese painting, but was later drawn to philosophy, particularly the works of German philosophers Arthur Schopenhauer and Nietzsche.

Tomoyoshi Murayama converted to Christianity himself after being assaulted by fellow students for echoing his mother's pacifist views.

Tomoyoshi Murayama started out his career after the Westernization campaign of the Meiji era.

Tomoyoshi Murayama entered Tokyo Imperial University in 1921 with the intention of studying philosophy, but soon left to study art and drama at the Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany.

In Berlin, Tomoyoshi Murayama had the occasion to pick up the latest developments in the visual arts, in music, performance and theater.

Tomoyoshi Murayama was deeply impressed by German dancer Niddy Impekoven, who was celebrated as a prodigy in the 1920s.

In May 1922, together with Wadachi and Nagano, Tomoyoshi Murayama travelled to Dusseldorf to participate at the First International Art Exhibition and the International Congress of Progressive Artists, both organized by the artist association Young Rhineland.

Tomoyoshi Murayama occasionally designed the cover of the theater's pamphlets.

On his return to Japan in 1923, Tomoyoshi Murayama introduced both expressionist and constructivist art, but was drawn more toward the modern theater, especially the proletarian theater movement of the 1920s.

Tomoyoshi Murayama applied many of the same techniques and aesthetic modes from his paintings into the realm of drama, including elements from German expressionism, Dadaism, futurism and other avant-garde European movements.

Tomoyoshi Murayama wrote and produced Marxist-inspired versions of Robin Hood and Don Quixote, which reflect his thinking that entertainment should play a vital sociopolitical objective.

Tomoyoshi Murayama painted illustrations for Rip Van Winkle, William Tell and more books.

When Tomoyoshi Murayama painted illustrations, he used his pen name Tom, which is the shortened version of his name, Tomoyoshi Murayama.

Murayama Tomoyoshi was one of the central figures of the left-wing theater.

In 1927, Tomoyoshi Murayama wrote Suka-to o Haita Nero, depicting Catherine II of Russia behaving callously towards her troops and peasants, and cruelty towards her lover to try to intercede on their behalf.

In May 1930, Tomoyoshi Murayama was arrested on a violation of the Peace Preservation Laws and was released in December.

Tomoyoshi Murayama was only released on probation in March 1934 after recanting his political views and agreeing to disperse his theatrical company.

Tomoyoshi Murayama quickly followed this with numerous other works over the next couple of years, including efforts to revitalize the genre of shimpa and to produce new forms of kabuki.

Tomoyoshi Murayama was known for his outspokenness against Japanese militarism and against censorship, which again drew official wrath.

Tomoyoshi Murayama was again arrested in August 1940, released on bail in June 1942, and re-sentenced in 1944.

In December 1945, after the end of World War II, Tomoyoshi Murayama returned to Japan.

In 1959, Tomoyoshi Murayama restructured it into the Tokyo Art Troupe, which he led overseas on a tour of China and Korea in 1960 and 1966.

Tomoyoshi Murayama participated in the formation of the Japan Democratic Literature Alliance in 1965, serving as its vice chairman for several years.