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Why a Boom in Proletarian Literature in Japan? The Kobayashi Takiji Memorial and The Factory Ship

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 May 2025

Heather Bowen-Struyk
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In February 2009, I was in a book store in the international terminal of Tokyo's Narita Airport when I saw it: Kobayashi Takiji's 1929 novella Kani Kosen (The Factory Ship) on the endcap sporting the best-sellers of 2008.

Two young Japanese women paused near the endcap, and then one picked up the book. I asked them why they were interested in it, explaining that I research Japanese proletarian literature. One woman cautiously answered, “Kani kosen has been discussed a lot lately.” Neither woman had read it, nor did they buy it then.

“Discussed a lot lately.” To the surprise of many, circulation of the nearly 80 year old proletarian novella Kani kosen jumped from approximately 5,000 copies per year to over 500,000 in 2008, and that does not include sales of the four manga versions which may have reached many more readers.

Type
Research Article
Information
Asia-Pacific Journal , Volume 7 , Issue 26 , June 2009 , e1
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BYCreative Common License - NCCreative Common License - ND
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is unaltered and is properly cited. The written permission of Cambridge University Press must be obtained for commercial re-use or in order to create a derivative work.
Copyright
Copyright © The Authors 2009

References

[1] Sato Saburo maintains an invaluable site in Japanese for anyone interested in Takiji. For his catalogue of discussions of the boom, see here.

[2] Norma Field, “Commercial Appetite and Human Need: The Accidental and Fated Revival of Kobayashi Takiji's Cannery Ship” The Asia-Pacific Journal Vol. 8-8-09, February 22, 2009.

[3] In May of 2009, a play was produced in Tokyo. Details here.

[4] See the annotated catalogue of essays on The Asia-Pacific Journal: “Financial-Economic Crisis and the Asia Pacific: World Economic and Financial Crisis, Japan and the Asia Pacific”

[5] Tsumura Kikuko, “Boats of Pothos Lime,” Bungei shunju (March 2009): 338-385.

[6] Norma Field, Kobayashi Takiji: 21seiki ni do yomu ka [Reading Kobayashi Takiji for the 21st Century] Iwanami Shinsho: 2009.

[7] See Sato Saburo's website, for constantly updated information.

[8] Hamabayashi Masao, “Kani kosen” no shakaishi: Kobayashi Takiji to sono jidai [A social history of Cannery Ship: Kobayashi Takiji and his age] Gakuyu no To mosha: 2009; and Hamabayashi Masao, Kobayashi Takiji to sono jidai: kiwameru me [Kobayashi Takij and his era: extreme eyes] Higashi Ginza shuppansha: 2004.

[9] 島村輝講演 6 / 6 名古屋「蟹工船」と青年なぜ読まれる「蟹工船」 http://blog.goo.ne.jp/takiji_2008/e/f1104ed340b07817ca9b24999215c678

[10] http://www.9-jo.jp/