Kikuchi Kan

Kikuchi Kan was born on December 26, 1888, in Takamatsu, Kagawa Prefecture.⁠[1]

He was the fourth son of the family.⁠[2]

The Kikuchi family descended from a line of scholars of the Takamatsu domain but was poor. He loved reading as a child, reading almost all of the roughly 20,000 books in a library, and won prizes in essay competitions.⁠[3]

He entered Tokyo Higher Normal School in 1908 and was struck off the next year; in 1913 a friend’s theft case forced him out of the First Higher School, and he entered Kyoto Imperial University’s English department.⁠[2]

He chose Tokyo Higher Normal School because it cost little, as his family could not afford more; at the First Higher School he took the blame for a friend and was expelled.⁠[3][4]

Lonely in Kyoto, he accepted an invitation from friends in Tokyo and joined the third Shinshicho with Akutagawa Ryunosuke, Kume Masao and others, five in all; they then launched the fourth Shinshicho, hoping to show their work to Natsume Soseki, whom they admired.⁠[4]

While at Kyoto University he published the plays Okujo no Kyojin and Chichi Kaeru, but at first they won little recognition.⁠[1]

After graduating he joined Jiji Shimpo as a reporter while continuing to write fiction. In June 1918 he published Mumei Sakka no Nikki (Diary of an Unknown Writer) in Chuokoron, which established him among Japan’s leading writers, and he then left the paper to write full time.⁠[5]

His novel Shinju Fujin (Madame Pearl), a story of love and revenge centered on the heroine Ruriko, was a major hit, and strong sales made him wealthy and famous.⁠[5]

In 1917 he married Okumura Kaneko, also from Kagawa.⁠[2]

With their clear themes and intellectual style, his works were classed with the New Intellectual school.⁠[6]

In January 1923 he launched the magazine Bungei Shunju; the first issue was hugely popular, with contributions from his friends Akutagawa Ryunosuke and Naoki Sanjugo as well as admirers such as Kawabata Yasunari and Yokomitsu Riichi.⁠[7]

In the founding statement he wrote that he had grown tired of saying things because he was asked to, and wanted to say what he thought freely, without deferring to readers or editors.⁠[8]

He started the magazine to give fledgling writers a platform; among them was Kawabata Yasunari, who later won the Nobel Prize in Literature.⁠[9]

In January 1935 he announced the Akutagawa and Naoki prizes, named after his late friends Akutagawa Ryunosuke and Naoki Sanjugo, partly so that Bungei Shunju would live on after losing two of its principal writers. Winners received a pocket watch and 500 yen.⁠[10]

Kawaguchi Matsutaro, the first Naoki Prize winner, spent 400 yen of his prize money on a party, and on hearing of it Kikuchi advised him not to spend so much.⁠[10]

He organized the Nihon Bungeika Kyokai and in 1936 became its first president.⁠[6]

He founded Nihon Bungaku Shinkokai in 1938, becoming its first chairman, and established the Kikuchi Kan Prize in 1939.⁠[2]

He also took part in the film business as president of Daiei. After the war he was purged from public office, and he died before the purge was lifted.⁠[6]

He died suddenly of angina pectoris on March 6, 1948, at 59. He had devoted his life to improving young writers’ status and living conditions, and so many admirers gathered around him that he became known as a literary magnate.⁠[9]

Takamatsu City sums up his achievements as founding Bungei Shunju, creating the Akutagawa, Naoki and Kikuchi Kan prizes, defending copyright and raising the status of writers.⁠[11]

Aozora Bunko has published 100 of his works online, with 51 more in preparation.⁠[1]

Takamatsu’s Kikuchi Kan Memorial Museum, on the third floor of Sun Crystal Takamatsu, displays an estimated reconstruction of his study, material from his Bungei Shunju years and personal belongings, along with signed copies of Akutagawa and Naoki prize-winning works and photographs arranged by year.⁠[12]

Because of the renovation of Sun Crystal Takamatsu, the museum has been closed since May 7, 2025, and is expected to reopen around autumn 2027.⁠[13]

The 74th Kikuchi Kan Prize, in 2026, went to Kirino Natsuo, Kitaoji Kinya, Emmanuel Todd, Yamagishi Ryoko and Tsuji Shintaro.⁠[14]

Bungei Shunju: Official website: https://www.bunshun.co.jp/ (opens in a new window)⁠[15]

Nihon Bungaku Shinkokai: Official website: https://bungakushinko.or.jp/ (opens in a new window)⁠[16]