Name Koda Rohan Children Aya Koda, Shigetoyo Koda | Role Author Grandchildren Tama Aoki | |
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Died July 30, 1947, Ichikawa, Chiba Prefecture, Japan Books The Five-Storied Pagoda, Pagoda ; Skull ; & Samurai, Pagoda, Skull and Samurai: Three Stories by Koda Rohan Similar People Ozaki Koyo, Ryunosuke Akutagawa, Masuji Ibuse, Ango Sakaguchi, Yoshiki Tanaka | ||
Kōda Shigeyuki (幸田 成行, 23 July 1867 – 30 July 1947) who used the pen name Kōda Rohan (幸田 露伴) was a Japanese author in the Meiji period. His daughter, Aya Kōda, was also a noted author who often wrote about him.
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Kōda wrote "The Icon of Liberty", also known as "The Buddha of Art" or "The Elegant Buddha", in 1889. A house (Kagyu-an or "snail cottage") in which Kōda lived was rebuilt in 1972 by the Meiji Mura museum. Kōda was one of the first persons to be awarded the Order of Culture when it was established in 1937.
Early life
Rohan was born in the Kanda District of Tokyo. He went to Hibiya High School and Aoyama Gakuin, but he did not graduate from both schools. He was the son of Koda Shigenobu (1839?--1914) and Koda Yu (1842?-1919), whose father was Koda Ritei, a samurai official serving under the local daimyō. Rohan's childhood name was Tetsushiro ("shiro" implying the fourth son) Shigeyuki.