Let's go to the museum / An author who loved history…

Let's go to the museum / An author who loved history -- and cats

A reproduction of the study where Osaragi wrote many masterpieces surrounded by cat ornaments and books. (Credit: The Yomiuri Shimbun)

YOKOHAMA -- Harbor View Park is a beautiful green space overlooking the Port of Yokohama. A lovely Western-style building in the park is the Osaragi Jiro Memorial Museum, which showcases the life and achievements of writer Kiyohiko Nojiri (1897-1973), who wrote under the pen name Jiro Osaragi. The museum owns and displays about 70,000 items such as his books, signed manuscripts, letters, collected materials and favorite belongings.

Born in Yokohama, Osaragi graduated from the Imperial University of Tokyo and then moved to Kamakura. He began his writing career in earnest in 1924. Before long, his historical novel "Kurama Tengu" brought him sudden popularity when it was made into a movie. He adopted the pen name of "Osaragi" (using kanji characters meaning "Great Buddha") because he lived behind the Great Buddha in the Hase district of Kamakura. He loved Yokohama while living in Kamakura. He used a room in the Hotel New Grand in Yokohama as his workplace for 10 years from 1931.

Particularly noteworthy is the wide range of his literary activities. Not only is he famous for historical novels, but he also dealt with various themes in works such as "Muteki" (Foghorn), a novel set in Yokohama during Japan's Westernization in the early years of the Meiji era (1868-1912); "Pari Moyu" (Burning Paris), a nonfiction work about 19th-century France; and "Tenno no Seiki" (Century of the Emperor), a long unfinished novel describing Japan during the Meiji Restoration. "Since Osaragi's works have various aspects, anyone can find works he or she is interested in," a researcher at the museum said.

Osaragi's works include "Kurama Tengu," center, which made him famous. (Credit: The Yomiuri Shimbun)

What is indispensable when talking about Osaragi is "cats." He was a cat lover who lived with more than 500 cats through his life. He wrote in an essay: "I begin thinking that I would be a cat in my next life. I readily put down my pen, become a long thin white cat and lightly jump down from the chair." He also collected cat-themed items such as ornaments and picture books. Museum visitors can enjoy his "cat collections."

Osaragi was like that, but he reportedly did not allow "living cats" to enter his study room at his home, which he called "my castle." In his study room, reproduced in the museum, cat ornaments are quietly placed on various spots such as the desk and the bedside. Osaragi produced one masterpiece after another while being watched over by cats. In the reproduced study room, I felt as if I could see Osaragi's back as he quietly worked at his desk.