{{Short description|Japanese novelist}} {{Infobox writer <!-- for more information see :Template:Infobox writer/doc --> | name = Ton Satomi | image = Satomi Ton.jpg | caption = Ton Satomi in 1927 | birth_name = Hideo Yamanouchi | native_name = 里見 弴 | birth_date = {{birth date|1888|7|14|df=y}} | birth_place = Yokohama, Japan | death_date = {{death date and age|1983|1|21|1888|7|14|df=y}} | death_place = Kamakura, Kanagawa, Japan |resting_place = Kamakura Reien Public Cemetery, Kamakura, Japan | occupation = Writer | genre = Novels, short stories | movement = Shirakaba | notableworks = |awards = Kikuchi Kan Award (1940)<br/>Yorimuri Prize (1956, 1971)<br/>Order of Culture (1959) | module = {{Infobox Chinese | child = yes | kanji = 里見 弴 | romaji = Satomi Ton | hiragana = さとみ とん }} }} {{Nihongo|'''Ton Satomi'''|里見 弴|Satomi Ton|extra=July 14, 1888 - January 21, 1983}} is the pen-name of Japanese author {{nihongo|'''Hideo Yamanouchi'''|山内英夫|Yamanouchi Hideo}}.<ref name = Mortimer >{{cite book | last = Mortimer | first = Maya | year = 2002 | title = Meeting the Sensei: The Role of the Master in Shirakaba | publisher = Brill | isbn = 9004116559 }} page 5</ref> Satomi was known for the craftsmanship of his dialogue and command of the Japanese language. His two elder brothers, Ikuma Arishima and Takeo Arishima, were also authors.

==Early life== Satomi Ton was born in Yokohama into the wealthy Arishima family, but was later legally adopted by his mother's family, thus inheriting their surname of Yamanouchi. He was educated at the Gakushuin Peers' School, where he became interested in literature, and briefly attended Tokyo Imperial University, but left in 1910 without graduating.<ref name = Miller >{{cite book | last = Miller | first = Scott J | year = 2009 | title = The A to Z of Modern Japanese Literature and Theater| publisher = Rowman and Littlefield | isbn = 978-0810876156}} page 107</ref>

==Literary career== Through his brother Ikuma Arishima, he became acquainted with other alumni authors from Gakushuin, including Naoya Shiga and Saneatsu Mushanokōji. They formed a group named after their literary magazine ''Shirakaba'', which was first published in 1910. Satomi claimed that he decided on his pen-name by picking out names at random from a telephone directory. In his early years, he was a frequent visitor to Yoshiwara together with Naoya Shiga, but he later married a former geisha from Osaka, Masa Yamanaka, and later novelized the story in the novels ''Kotoshidake'' (今年竹) and ''Tajō Busshin'' (多情仏心). Although he wrote some works in 1913 and 1914, Satomi’s literary debut was in 1915 in ''Chūōkōron''. Satomi became a disciple of Kyōka Izumi after his works came to the attention of the older novelist.<ref name = Miller />

Satomi strove to remain aloof from any particular literary clique or political school throughout his career. He was a prolific author known for his autobiographical works and promotion of purely literary values. In the West he is largely known for ''Tsubaki'' ("Camellia"), a disturbing short story written after the Great Kantō earthquake of 1923, which came a few months after the suicide of his brother Takeo Arishima. From 1932, he worked as an instructor at Meiji University. He was awarded the Kikuchi Kan Prize in 1940.

In 1945, together with Yasunari Kawabata, he created the Kamakura Bunko. He was made a member of the Japan Art Academy in 1947. In 1958, his novel ''Higanbana'' (''Equinox Flower'') was made into a movie by Yasujirō Ozu, starring Kinuyo Tanaka.

In 1959, Satomi received the Order of Culture from the Japanese government.<ref name = Miller /> In 1960, Satomi published ''Late Autumn'', which was later made into a movie by Yasujirō Ozu starring Setsuko Hara. He was awarded the Yomiuri Prize in 1956 and in 1971.

He lived in Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture from 1924 until his death, and often socialized with the other literati residing in that city. With the establishment of the Shochiku movie studios in Ofuna, north of Kamakura, he also collaborated with film director Yasujirō Ozu on numerous movie scripts.

Satomi died in 1983. His grave is located at the Kamakura Reien Public Cemetery.

==Major works== *''Zen Shin Aku Shin'' ("Good Heart Evil Heart") *''Tajo Busshin'' ("The Compassion of Buddha", 1922–1923) *''Anjo Ke no Kyodai'' ("The Anjo Brothers") *''Gokuraku Tombo'' ("A Carefree Fellow", 1961)

==See also== *Japanese literature *List of Japanese authors

==References== * Flowler, Edward. ''The Rhetoric of Confession: Shishosetsu in Early Twentieth-Century Japanese Fiction''. University of California Press (1992). {{ISBN|0-520-07883-7}} * Keene, Donald. ''Dawn to the West''. Columbia University Press; 2nd Rev Ed edition (1998). {{ISBN|0-231-11435-4}} * Morris, Ivan. ''Modern Japanese Stories: An Anthology''. Tuttle Publishing (2005). {{ISBN|0-8048-3336-2}}

==Notes== {{commons category|Ton Satomi}} {{reflist}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Satomi, Ton}} Category:1888 births Category:1983 deaths Category:20th-century Japanese novelists Category:Japanese male short story writers Category:Shirakaba-ha Category:Writers from Yokohama Category:University of Tokyo alumni Category:Yomiuri Prize winners Category:Recipients of the Order of Culture Category:20th-century Japanese short story writers Category:20th-century Japanese male writers Category:20th-century Japanese screenwriters