Shimazaki, Tōson (1872–1943)

Japanese poet and novelist. His work explores the clash of old and new values in rapidly modernizing Japan. He published romantic poetry in the 1890s and Hakai/Broken Commandment 1906, the first Japanese naturalist novel, as well as the confessional novel Ie/The House 1910–11. Yoake mae/Before the Dawn 1935 is an account of the struggle for the restoration of the Empire 1862 from the perspective of a rural community.