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Paper short abstract:

Ogawa Mimei (1882-1961) is undoubtedly recognized as the most important founder and writer of children's literature in Japan. The purpose of this paper is to trace a representation of dōshin-shugi in Mimei's children's literature together with his essays.

Paper long abstract:

Ogawa Mimei (1882-1961) is undoubtedly recognized as the most important (together with Hamada Hirosuke and Tsubota Jōji) founder and writer of children's literature in Japan. Called Japanese Hans Christian Andersen, he was an author of over 1200 fairy tales, as well as essays, poetry and short stories of great artistic value. He significantly contributed to the development of the genre in Japan, raising its value and inspiring many other writers. He also pioneered in the dōshin-shugi (child's heart) movement which believed that the heart of children is pure and innocent. Born in Meiji era, he lived through Taishō and Shōwa witnessing momentous and epochal changes in Japanese culture and society which significantly influenced his works. Although later actively involved in the rise of the Japanese proletarian children's literature movement, he was still able to maintain Japanese tradition while infusing his children's stories with Western and modern elements. What is more interesting, in this process he also appealed to return to the children's heart. But it referred not only to the innocence of the children, but the artless, ecstatic enthusiasm of children, to dissolve into true nature. The purpose of this paper is to trace a representation of dōshin-shugi in Mimei's children's literature together with his essays, as well as to conduct a brief analysis of some of his representative works in which Mimei develops dōshin-shugi.