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was a Japanese author of proletarian literature. He is best known for his short novel ''Kanikōsen'', or ''Crab Cannery Ship'', a short novel published in 1929. It tells the story of several different people and the beginning of organization into unions of fishing workers. The young writer apparently died due to violent torture after arrest by the ''Tokkō'' police two years later, at the age of 29.〔() Prominent people of Minato City〕 ==Biography== Kobayashi was born in Odate, Akita, Japan. At the age of four, his family moved to Otaru, Hokkaido. The family was not wealthy, but Kobayashi's uncle paid his schooling expenses and he was able to attend Hokkaido Otaru Commercial High School and Otaru Commercial School of Higher Learning, which is the current Otaru University of Commerce. While studying, he became interested in writing, and submitted essays to literary magazines, served in the editorial committee for his school's alumni association magazine, and also had his own writing published. One of his teachers at school was economist, critic, and poet Nobuyuki Okuma. Around this time, due to financial hardship and the current economic recession of the time, he joined the labour movement. After graduating from school, he worked in the Otaru branch of the Hokkaido Takushoku Bank. In the 1928 general election, Kobayashi helped with election candidate Kenzo Yamamoto's campaign, and went to Yamamoto's campaign speech in a village at the base of Mount Yōtei. This experience was later incorporated into his book . In the same year, his story ''March 15, 1928'' (based on the March 15 incident) was published in the literary magazine ''Senki'' ("Standard of Battle" in Japanese). The story depicted torture by the ''Tokkō'' special higher police, which in turn infuriated government officials. In 1929, Kobayashi's novel ''Kanikōsen'' about a crab-canning ship's crew determined to stand up to a cruel manager under harsh conditions was published in ''Senki''. It quickly gained attention and notoriety, and became a standard-bearer of Marxist proletarian literature. In July of that year, it was adapted into a theatrical performance and was performed at the Imperial Garden Theater under the title . The full text of ''Kanikōsen'', now the length of a short novel, was not available in Japan until 1948. ''Kanikōsen'' was subsequently published three times translated into English as ''The Cannery Boat'' (1933), ''The Factory Ship'' (1973), and ''The Crab Cannery Ship'' (2013). The police (in particular the ''Tokkō'') marked Kobayashi for surveillance. In the same year, his essay published in ''Chūōkōron'' magazine became grounds for his dismissal from his job at the bank.〔Keene 1998 : 621〕 In the spring of 1930, Kobayashi moved to Tokyo and became the secretary general of the Proletarian Writer's Guild of Japan. On May 23 he was arrested on suspicion of giving financial support to the Japan Communist Party, and was temporarily released on June 7. After returning to Tokyo on June 24, he was again arrested and in July, due to ''Kanikōsen'' he was further indicted on charges of Lèse majesté. In August, he was prosecuted under the Public Order and Police Law of 1900 and was imprisoned in Toyotama Penitentiary. On January 22, 1931, he was released on bail. He then secluded himself at the Nanasawa Hot Spring in Kanagawa Prefecture. In October 1931, Kobayashi officially became a member of the outlawed Japan Communist Party.〔page 83〕 In November, he visited the house of Naoya Shiga in Nara Prefecture, and in the spring of 1932, he went underground.〔 On February 20, 1933, Kobayashi went to a meeting spot in Akasaka to meet with a fellow Communist Party member, who turned out to be a ''Tokkō'' spy who had infiltrated the party. The ''Tokkō'' were lying in wait for him, and although he tried to escape, he was captured and arrested.〔 Kobayashi was taken to Tsukiji Police Station, where he was tortured.〔 Police authorities announced the following day that Kobayashi had died of a heart attack.〔(The Japan Press 2003 Feb 9 issue )〕 No hospital would perform an autopsy for fear of the ''Tokkō''.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Takiji Kobayashi」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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