His literary career began in 1935, when he began writing a series of short stories, starting with
Kajin (佳人, Lady), and
Hinkyu mondo (貧窮 問答, Dialog on Poverty) in which he depicted the struggles of a solitary writer attempting to create a
Parnassian fiction. In 1936 he won the fourth annual
Akutagawa Prize for his story
Fugen (普賢, The Bodhisattva). In early 1938, when
Japan's war against China was at its height, Ishikawa published the brilliantly ironic
Marusu no uta (マルス の 歌, Mars' Song), an antiwar story soon banned for fomenting antimilitary thought. His first novel,
Hakubyo (白描, Plain Sketch, 1940) was a criticism of
Stalinism. During the war years, he turned his attention to non-fiction, producing biographies on
Mori Ōgai and
Watanabe Kazan. However, his main interest was in the comic verses of the
Tenmei era of the
Edo period (
狂歌, Kyoka), of which he became a master. He wrote poetry using the pen-name of . Along with the likes of
Osamu Dazai,
Sakaguchi Ango, and
Oda Sakunosuke, Ishikawa was known as a member of the
Buraiha (literally "Ruffian") tradition of anti-conventional literature. In the post-war period, he wrote
Ogon Densetsu (黄金 伝説, Legend of Gold, 1946) and
Yakeato no Iesu (焼跡 の イエス, Jesus in the Ashes, 1946). The author
Abe Kobo became his pupil. He also continued his work in essays, which took two forms. In
Isai hitsudan (夷斎 筆談, Isai's Discourses, 1950–1951), he covered a wide range of topics in art, literature and current events, in an irreverent, and at times, bitter, style. On the other hand,
Shokoku Kijinden (諸国 畸人伝, Eccentrics and Gallants from around the country, 1955–1957), is a series of biographical sketches of unusual persons from various points in Japanese history. He turned also to ancient
Japanese history, with the serial publication of
Shinshaku Kojiki (新釈 古事記, Another Translation of the
Kojiki),
Hachiman Engi (八幡 縁起, Origins of Gods of Hachiman, 1957) and
Shura (修羅, Demons, 1958), in which he explored the origin of Japanese nation and conflict between the
Jōmon and
Yayoi peoples. In 1964 he went to a journey to the
Soviet Union and western Europe together with Abe Kobo. It was his first overseas travel, and resulted in
Seiyu Nichiroku (西游 日録, A Record of a Journey West, 1965). In 1967 he joined
Kawabata Yasunari,
Mishima Yukio and
Abe Kōbō in issuing a statement protesting the destruction of
Chinese art during the Chinese
Cultural Revolution. Ishikawa was immensely popular in the post-war era, and won numerous awards. His
Edo Bungaku Shoki (江戸 文学 掌記, A Brief Survey of Edo Literature, 1980), won the Yomiuri Literary Award. He died of lung cancer while working on his last novel,
Hebi no Uta (蛇 の 歌, A Song of Snakes, 1988),
In English • Ishikawa, Jun.
The Legend of Gold and Other Stories. Trans. William J. Tyler. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 1988. • Ishikawa, Jun.
The Bodhisattva. Columbia University Press (1990). Trans. William J. Tyler. ==See also==