Yamada Bimyo

Yamada Bimyō (山田 美妙^?), born Yamada Taketarō (山田 武太郎^?, 1868–1910), was a Japanese novelist.

Jim Reichert, author of Yamada Bimyō: Historical Fiction and Modern Love, wrote that Bimyō was "one of the most influential literary reformers of the 1880s" who had "an instrumental role" in producing rekishi shōsetsu, the modern form of a Japanese historical novel. According to Reichert, during the 1880s the public perceived Bimyō "to be at the forefront of the literary reform movement, offering a fresh and exciting strategy for reforming Japanese literature."

Louis Frédéric, author of the Japan Encyclopedia, wrote that Bimyō was, along with Kōda Rohan, "the most representative authors" of the first modern school of literature to appear in Meiji Japan.

Bimyō was a part of the "Ken'yūsha" ("Friends of the Inkstone") literary group formed in February 1885, along with Ozaki Kōyō, Ishibashi Shian, and Maruoka Kyūka.

Bimyō married the writer Tazawa Inabune (Tazawa Kin) after she traveled to Tokyo to meet him. At the time, Bimyō's financial situation was deteriorating, and Inabune's family was wealthy. Yukiko Tanaka, author of Women Writers of Meiji and Taisho Japan: Their Lives, Works and Critical Reception, 1868-1926, stated that the marriage would not have occurred if the financial situation did not exist.

During the marriage Bimyō had affairs with other women. Bimyō told Ozaki Kōyō, who criticized his having affairs, that he did them to enhance his artistic abilities. The marriage attracted scrutiny from the press, and after three months they divorced and Inafune was forced to return home.

The man's relationships with his colleagues eventually deteriorated. Bimyō's ex-wife's died, and many newspapers reported that she committed suicide. Melek Ortabasi, author of "Tazawa Inabune (1874-1896)", wrote that Inafune's death ended Bimyo's career "in large part" because Bimyō received criticisms for how he had treated Inafune.

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