Published Titles

Words to Live by
Japanese Classics for Our Time
Nakano Koji
Translated by Juliet Winters Carpenter
Philosophy & Religion
¥2,700
Published by JPIC | Hardcover | ISBN 978-4-86658-024-1 | 236 pages | 210mm (h) x 148mm (w) | March 2018
About the Book
About the Author
NAKANO Kōji
Born in Ichikawa, Chiba Prefecture, he studied on his own and entered the prestigious Fifth High School in Kumamoto. After a stint in the armed forces during the Pacific War, he graduated from the German Literature Department of the University of Tokyo. Starting in 1952, he taught for twenty-eight years at Kokugakuin University while translating the works of modern writers such as Franz Kafka, Erich Nossack, and Günter Grass. In 1966, he went to Europe for a year as a research scholar. On his return, he immersed himself in Japanese medieval literature and began writing literary criticism, novels, and essays. His first book, a study of Shogun Minamoto no Sanetomo, came out in 1972. His book Bruegel e no tabi (Journey to Bruegel), inspired by his encounters overseas with Western paintings, validates the first half of his life while creating a distinctive worldview. He wrote various award-winning books including the autobiographical novel Mugi ururu hi ni (When the Wheat Ripens); Harasu no ita hibi (Days with Haras), a memoir of his departed dog; and Seihin no shisô (The Concept of Honest Poverty). From 1993 he served as director of the Kanagawa Literature Association. His final book was Seneca: Gendaijin e no tegami (Seneca: Letters to People of Today). Throughout his prolific writing career, Nakano explored the nature of true happiness, offering words of warning and encouragement for modern Japanese.
内容紹介
著者紹介
中野孝次
1925年1月、千葉県市川市生まれ。独学で熊本の旧制五高に進み、軍隊生活を挟んで、戦後、東京大学文学部独文科を卒業。1952年から28年間、国学院大学で教鞭をとるかたわら、カフカ、ノサック、グラスなど現代ドイツ文学の翻訳紹介に努める。1966年、同学在外研究員として1年間西欧諸国に滞在。帰国後、日本の中世文学に傾倒し、日本文学の批評や小説・エッセイなどの執筆活動も開始。1972年に初の著作『実朝考』を刊行。さらに滞欧時の絵画との出会いをもとに半生を検証した1976年のエッセイ『ブリューゲルへの旅』で独自の世界を確立。その後も自伝的小説『麦熟るる日に』、愛犬の回想記『ハラスのいた日々』、凛然と生きる文人を描いた『清貧の思想』など多彩な執筆活動を続け、数々の文学賞を受賞。1993年からは財団法人神奈川文学振興会理事長を務め、2004年7月、肺炎のため逝去。最期の著書『セネカ 現代人への手紙』まで、人生の真の幸福を追求した数々の著作には、現代日本人への警句と励ましとが満ちている。
Original Japanese Edition / 原書情報
