Ujaku Akita Memorial Hall
| Location | 5 Nakamachi, Kuroishi, Aomori Prefecture 〒０３６－０３７７ (The second floor of the Tsugaru Komise Eki building) |
|---|---|
| ＴＥＬ | ０１７２－５９－２０８０ |
| ＦＡＸ | ０１７２－５９－２０８１ |
| Hours of operation | ９：００～１６：００ |
| Closed days | Closed on New Year’s Day |
| Admission Fee | Free |
| Parking | Available (Tsugaru Komise Eki parking lot) |
| Access |
◆For guests coming by car ・Approximately 7 minutes from the Kuroishi IC to downtown ◆For guests coming via Konan Bus ・Approximately 3 minutes from the Kuroishi Station on the Konan Railway Line ◆Approximately 10 minutes by foot from the Kuroishi Station |
| Hall Curator |
Hidetoshi Ito |
紹介文
Ujaku Akita left his mark on history as a poet, a playwright, and an advocate for social movements. He played a crucial role in the popularization of Esperanto, and was a pioneer of the New Drama Movement.
While commemorating Ujaku Akita, the Hall also memorializes other local literary figures, including Youkichi Narumi, Hirotaka Niwa, and Kanzou Narumi.
Items and autographs from the various literary masters born in Kuroishi are also preserved and displayed in the Memorial Hall
Ujaku Akita’s Personal History
| January 30th, 1883 | Is born at Mae-machi 38 in Kuroishi (now Mae-machi 17, Kuroishi). His birth name is Tokuzō, his father’s name Gen’an, and his mother’s name Matsu. According to his diary, because he was sickly and timid as a boy he refers to himself self-deprecatingly as Ujaku (a play on words for the Japanese word for feeble), and later adopts this name as a pen name. |
|---|---|
| September 8th, 1887 | Enters the District 1 Southern Tsugaru Kuroishi Public Elementary School of Aomori Prefecture. His classmate there is Yokichi Narumi, who later makes a name for himself writing tanka poems. (Narumi was born on July 9th, 1883, and passed away on December 17th, 1959.) Thereafter, the two men continue throughout their lives as good friends and professional rivals. |
| April 8th, 1897 | Enters the Aomori Prefectural First Junior High School (currently the Aomori Prefectural Hirosaki High School). |
| April, 1902 | Is admitted into the English Literature Department of the Tokyo Vocational School (renamed in September of that year to Waseda University). |
| 1906 | Marries Kinu Yata (the official notification date is September 19th, 1911). |
| June, 1907 | Announces the novel “Homosexual Love.” This is his maiden novel, and he subsequently becomes one of the rising novelists of Waseda’s literature department. |
| April, 1912 |
Announces the play “The Buried Spring.” Following this produces innumerable poems, novels, plays, children’s stories, essays, critiques, etc. He is furthermore active in the New Drama literature movement, as well as the Esperanto movement. |
| October 17th, 1895 |
A monument is erected to Ujaku at the Ezo Hall in Kuroishi’s Miyuki Park.
「みつばちの 巣ばこに われは耳あてて はるかにもきく 春のおとずれ」 |
| January 1st, 1960 | Is conferred the title of Distinguished Citizen by Kuroishi’s mayor Takejirou Takahi. |
| May 12th, 1962 | Passes away at 4 PM, at the age of 79. |
| June 10th, 1962 |
A monument is erected at Josen-ji Temple on Kuromori-yama in Kuroishi.
「ひとさしを わが手のひらに おしあてて 文字を教えし 父のなつかし」 |
| November 5th, 1972 |
A monument is erected at Hogen-ji Temple, at Yamagata-machi, Kuroishi.
「手を拡げて 小さな実をこぼす 初霰」 |