Born the son of a samurai at the Owari domain residence in Edo; his real name was Hasegawa Tatsunosuke.
He studied Russian at the Tokyo School of Foreign Languages and came to love Russian literature.
Leaving school, he called on Tsubouchi Shōyō to learn about the novel.
He published the novel Ukigumo (Drifting Clouds), written in a style close to spoken language (genbun itchi), regarded as the start of the modern Japanese novel.
He published a translation of Turgenev, Aibiki, whose new prose style amazed readers.
He became a professor at the Tokyo School of Foreign Languages.
He joined the Asahi newspaper and later published the novels Sono Omokage and Heibon.
He went to St Petersburg as a correspondent for the newspaper.
He fell ill and died aboard ship on the way home to Japan.
Mori ŌgaiNitobe InazōOkakura Kakuzō (Tenshin)Tsuda UmekoKawakami OtojirōKuroda SeikiNatsume SōsekiMasaoka Shiki
People of the Meiji period ・ People by period
Based on facts found in textbooks and biographies. Uncertain points are marked as such.