Tanizaki Junichiro

Born July 24, 1886, in Tokyo; died July 30, 1965, in Yugawara. Kanagawa Prefecture. Japanese writer; a prominent representative of the Tambi-ha (“aesthetes”) literary group.

Tanizaki’s aestheticism and perverse eroticism were manifested in the short story “The Tattoo” (1910), and the novellas The Feet of Fumiko (1919) and A Fool’s Love (1925; Russian translation, 1929). Tanizaki’s later works were influenced by the Japanese literary classics. His quest for beauty in former times and for sacrificial love was reflected in the novel Some Prefer Nettles (1928) and the novella Spring Lute (1933). Using the muted tones of the classical style, Tanizaki depicted the everyday life of a patriarchal Japanese family in the novel The Makioka Sisters (1943–48).