Portrait of Sakunosuke Oda
(1946) [mounted on a panel]
Original manuscript and the first edition of Meoto Zenzai
(1940) Owned by Osaka Prefectural Nakanoshima Library
Meoto Zenzai was first published in the literary coterie magazine, Kaifu, and selected in 1940 as the first “editors’ recommended work” by Bungei, a literary magazine published by Kaizosha, and instantly brought Sakunosuke Oda to fame. The book was published by Sogensha in the same year. In 1955, after the death of the writer, Meoto Zenzai was adapted into a highly successful film starring Hisaya Morishige and Chikage Awashima.
First editions of Sakunosuke Oda’s works published before his death
(1940–1947) Private collection
Sakunosuke Oda published twenty books before his death. These books include novels set in Osaka and essays about Osaka and people associated with Osaka.
Sakunosuke Oda visited Tokyo in November 1946 to write Doyo Fujin (Madam Saturday). This photo was taken during his stay in Tokyo by a famous photographer, Jun Miki. In this photo, he wears a jacket which Koji Uno, a writer, said looked nice on him. While in Tokyo, he enjoyed associating with renowned writers such as Osamu Dazai, Ango Sakaguchi and Fumiko Hayashi and wrote Kanosei no Bungaku (The Literature of Possibility). At midnight on December 4, 1946, he coughed up a lot of blood and passed away on January 10, 1947, the day of Toka Ebisu Festival, in Tokyo.