Jun'ichirō Tanizaki
Japanese author (1886–1965)
Jun'ichirō Tanizaki (谷崎 潤一郎, Tanizaki Jun'ichirō; 24 July 1886 – 30 July 1965) was a Japanese author who is considered to be one of the most prominent figures in modern Japanese literature. The tone and subject matter of his work range from shocking depictions of sexuality and destructive erotic obsessions to subtle portrayals of the dynamics of family life within the context of the rapid changes in 20th-century Japanese society. Frequently, his stories are narrated in the context of a search for cultural identity in which the West and Japanese tradition are juxtaposed.
He was one of six authors on the final shortlist for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1964, the year before his death.
Biography
Early life
Tanizaki was born into a well-to-do merchant-class family in Nihonbashi, Tokyo, where his uncle owned a printing press, which had been established by his grandfather. His parents were Kuragorō and Seki Tanizaki. His older brother, Kumakichi, died three days after his birth, which made him the next eldest son of the family. Tanizaki had three younger brothers: Tokuzō, Seiji (also a writer) and Shūhei, as well three younger sisters: Sono, Ise and Sue. Tanizaki described his admittedly pampered childhood in his Yōshō Jidai (Childhood Years, 1956). His childhood home was destroyed in the 1894 Meiji Tokyo earthquake, to which Tanizaki later attributed his lifelong fear of earthquakes.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Jun'ichirō Tanizaki” is japanese author (1886–1965). The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Jun'ichirō, Tanizaki and Japanese, not as a finished interpretation.
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The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 2, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q316213. VIAF identifies the subject as 95021658. The Library of Congress control number is n80153940. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1886, 1965, 1964 and 1956.
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This entry incorporates text from “Jun'ichirō Tanizaki” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.