Kita Morio (1927-), also known as his literary persona Dokutoru Manbô, is one of the most popular and prolific postwar writers in Japan. He is also one of the few Japanese writers who have simultaneously and successfully produced humorous, comical fiction and essays as well as serious literary works. He has worked in a variety of genres. For example, The House of Nire (Nireke no hitobito), his most prominent work, is a long family saga informed by history and Doctor Manbô at Sea (Dokutoru Manbô kôkaikiis a humorous travelogue. He has also produced in other genres such as children's stories and science fiction.
This study provides an introduction to Kita Morio’s fiction and essays, in particular, his versatile writing styles. Also, through the examination of Kita’s representative works in each genre, the study examines some overarching traits in his writing. For this reason, I have approached his large body of works by according a chapter to each genre. Chapter one provides a biographical overview of Kita Morio’s life up to the present. The chapter also gives a brief biographical sketch of Kita’s father, Saitô Mokichi (1882-1953), who is one of the most prominent tanka poets in modern times. The biographical information not only provides important background when examining Kita’s fiction and essays but also indicates the influences on his writings. Chapter two examines two of his fictional works, Ghosts (Yûrei) and The House of Nire. Although both works are fictional, they contain strong autobiographical elements: Ghosts is highly introspective and tinged with Jungian insight; on the other hand, The House of Nire is a family epic that depicts the decline of one family over three generations during the enormous upheavals Japan underwent from 1918 to 1946. Through the examination of the two works and several of his essays, I demonstrate how Kita depicts the same materials from different perspectives. Chapter three deals with one of Kita’s humorous travelogues, Doctor Manbô at Sea. Although this work is considered “humorous,” I argue that the work also has the theme of “recovery” beneath the comical style of the work. By tracing his alter-ego’s journey as a ship’s doctor on a Japanese Fishery Agency’s survey ship, the chapter examines what materials are subjected to laughter and what are not. The methods Kita employs to make a phrase and a sentence “comical” are also analyzed in the chapter. In chapter four, his children’s stories for the young and for adults are examined. Special attention is given to what makes some of his stories a “tale for children,” and how the components appear in these stories. Chapter five takes up his major works that do not fit easily into any given genre and are not discussed in the previous chapters. Translations of one essay and four short stories, which have not been translated previously and are discussed in this study, are provided in the Appendix.