Shūsaku Endō
| Shūsaku Endō | |
|---|---|
Endō in 1954
|
|
| Born |
March 27, 1923 Tokyo, Japan |
| Died | September 29, 1996 (aged 73) Tokyo, Japan |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Nationality | Japanese |
| Citizenship | Japan |
| Genre | Novels |
| Literary movement | "Third Generation" |
| Notable works | Silence |
| Spouse | Junko Endo (wife, m. 1955) |
Shūsaku Endō (遠藤 周作 Endō Shūsaku?, March 27, 1923 – September 29, 1996) was a Japanese author who wrote from the rare perspective of a Japanese Roman Catholic. Together with Junnosuke Yoshiyuki, Shōtarō Yasuoka, Junzo Shono, Hiroyuki Agawa, Ayako Sono, and Shumon Miura, Endō is categorized as one of the "Third Generation", the third major group of writers who appeared after World War II.
Soon after Endō was born in Tokyo in 1923, his family moved to Dalian, part of the Kwantung Leased Territory in Manchuria. When his parents divorced in 1933, Endō's mother brought him back to Japan to live with an aunt in Kobe. Endō was baptized as a Catholic at the age of 11 or 12 in the year 1934. Some say this was brought on by his mother, who had converted to Catholicism after her divorce, while others state the aunt instigated the initiation.
Endō began studying at Keio University in 1943, but his studies were interrupted by the war; he worked in a munitions factory. Nonetheless, he contributed to literary journals during this period. In 1968, he would become chief editor of one of these, the prestigious Mita Bungaku.
His alma mater is not the only university Endō is associated with. He first attended Waseda University for the stated purpose of studying medicine. An interest in French Catholic authors precipitated a visit to the University of Lyon beginning in 1950, and he lectured at at least two Tokyo universities. In 1956, he was hired as an instructor at Sophia University, and Seijo University assigned him the role of "Lecturer on the Theory of the Novel" in 1967. He was considered a novelist not a university professor, however.
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