Group report cards for students including novelist Osamu Dazai (1909-48) during his school days in Aomori City have been discovered, showing that he was a competent student who excelled in math.
According to the report cards, which were shown to the press on Feb. 10, he was ranked No. 3 among the 181 students when he was in the third year at a school then known as Kyusei Aomori Chugaku, which has since become Aomori High School.
The records identify him as Shuji Tsushima. Osamu Dazai was his pen name.
Dazai is known for "Ningen Shikkaku" (No Longer Human), "Hashire Merosu" (Run, Melos!) and other novels and short stories.
The nine group report cards for academic terms covering the four years he attended the school were discovered four years ago in an educational resource room of the high school by teacher Tomoe Nishiya.
The group report cards for the third-year students show that he had good grades, scoring the full 100 points for algebra and 90 points for physical education.
"I used to think he was not good at those subjects, so [the report cards] show a surprising side of him," Nishiya said.
On the other hand, his grades for grammar and writing in Japanese, and Chinese classics, which one might expect to have been high, were both 83 points in both the second year and the fourth year (the third term). According to Nishiya, the scores were not very high in comparison with those of other students.
The high school celebrated its 120th anniversary last year, which prompted it to reveal the report cards to the public with permission from the novelist's family. Since the group report cards contain scores of other students as well, the school will keep them for the time being. If researchers wish to see them for academic purposes, the school will consider whether or not to allow them to look at the originals.
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