Mori Ogai, Writer and Translator

Posted by Tel Asiado Feb 17, 2008

Mori Ogai (given name was Rintaro), 1862-1922, born February 17, Japanese playwright, author, critic, and translator, one of the creators of modern literature. He was also a soldier, doctor and a bureacrat.

He was born into a samurai family in Shimane. He studied medicine and became director of the Army Medical Corps, becoming influential in the introduction of western medicine.

Mori Ogai started writing by translating European literature - one of the first Japanese to do so - then producing his own historical fiction, European-influenced.