Author · 1894–1945
葉山嘉樹Hayama Yoshiki · はやま よしき
Hayama Yoshiki (1894–1945) was a leading writer of Japanese proletarian literature. Before becoming a writer, he worked as a sailor and in a series of labouring jobs, and he became active in the labour movement. Together with 'The Note in the Cement Cask', these works established him as a central figure of the proletarian literary movement of the 1920s.
Stories by Hayama Yoshiki
セメント樽の中の手紙 — The Note in the Cement Cask
This is a short piece of Japanese proletarian fiction, built around a story within a story. Matsudo Yozō is a cement labourer at a power-station site by the Kiso River, grey with dust and worn out by long shifts. Near quitting time he finds…