Today was the birthday of Japanese author Fumio Niwa (born November 22, 1904), who penned many works but is probably best known for his 1956 novel
The Buddha Tree. Niwa's writings often went against the traditional grain of Japanese culture, such as his 1947
The Hateful Age, which focused on the hold an aged grandmother has on her family and their societal obligation to care for her. Grandma is not lovingly wise and appreciative, however, but rather at a point where her already flawed personality has "coagulated into a solid core of wickedness." In
The Buddha Tree, Niwa's troubled childhood as the son of a Buddhist priest is fictionalized as anything but serene and contemplative.
Beyond his controversial works, Niwa was known for his charismatic personality and for helping his colleagues as a director of the Japanese Writers' Association. In his later years he was drawn back to the Buddhism he had rejected as a young man, and he also entered a hateful age of his own through his battle with Alzheimer's. He died at age 100 on April 20, 2005.
