Arishima Takeo

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Arishima Takeo (有島武郎, March 4, 1878, Tokyo – June 9, 1923) was a Japanese author. His two younger brothers, Arishima Ikuma (有島生馬) and Satomi Ton (里美弴) were also authors.

Arishima was born into a wealthy family as the son of an official in the Ministry of Finance. He entered Gakushuin, a prestigious school famous for educating the emperor's family, when he was 10 years old. After he graduated Gakushuin at 19, he entered the Sapporo Agricultural College (the present-day Faculty of Agriculture at Hokkaido University). During his studies at the university, he attempted suicide with Morimoto Kokichi (森本厚吉), who later founded several women's schools in Japan. The suicide failed, and he subsequently became influenced by Uchimura Kanzō and became a Christian in 1901. After graduation, Arishima went to the United States and studied at Harvard University after a short stint in the army. In America he became critical towards Christianity, attracted to socialism, and influenced by the works of writers such as Walt Whitman, Henrik Ibsen, and Peter Kropotkin.

After he returned to Japan, he reentered the army before becoming an English teacher in 1909. Through his brother Ikuma, he also became acquainted with authors who graduated from Gakushuin, including Shiga Naoya and Mushanokoji Saneatsu. Arishima and these writers formed a group, which was named after their literary magazine Shirakaba (白樺 White Birch), which was first published in 1911. He wrote novels and criticisms and was known as one of the central figures in the Shirakaba group.

Arishima married in 1910, but his wife died in 1916 of tuberculosis leaving him three children. In 1922, Arishima met Hatano Akiko, a married woman and an editor working for a famous women's magazine. Their relationship quickly developed into an extramarital affair, which soon came to be known by Hatano's husband. This lead to Arishima and Hatano committing suicide in Karuizawa by hanging themselves.

Arishima's major works include: