He was born in Minamata in Higo, now Kumamoto, the youngest son of Tokutomi Iichirei. His real name was Kenjirō. His elder brother was the commentator Tokutomi Sohō. Raised amid Christian and literary influences at home, he later took the pen name Roka.
Accompanied by his brother he entered Dōshisha English School in Kyoto. In a Christian atmosphere he grew familiar with English and literature, spending a sensitive boyhood. Seeds of his later writing were nurtured here.
He received Christian baptism and worked in mission and English teaching in places such as Imabari. Torn between faith and daily life, he could not abandon his passion for literature. In time he resolved to go to Tokyo.
He went to Tokyo, joined his brother Sohō's Min'yūsha, and handled proofreading and translation. Encountering literature by writers such as Futabatei Shimei, he grew eager to create. Amid busy Min'yūsha work he began seeking a novelist's path.
He married Harada Aiko. While building a household he nurtured his wish to write and immersed himself in foreign literature such as Tolstoy. Thereafter he long combined the faces of householder and writer.
He published the novel Hototogisu, which became a huge bestseller. The story of family, illness, love and parting moved many readers to tears. Success with Hototogisu overnight made Roka a writer for the nation.
He published the essay collection Nature and Life, welcomed as distinctive nature writing. Bringing rural scenes and inner feeling to city readers, he became known for a charm apart from his novels.
During a world journey he visited the writer Tolstoy in Russia. Encountering a simple life and firm beliefs led him to rethink his own way of living. His account of the visit also resonated widely with readers.
He moved to Musashino on Tokyo's outskirts, near present-day Kasuya in Setagaya, living by farming and writing. Days spent near nature bore fruit in works such as Mimizu no tawagoto and became the image of his later years.
He died of illness at Ikaho in Gunma at fifty-eight, not long after reconciling with his brother Sohō. As the author of Hototogisu he left deep emotion with Meiji–Taishō readers.
Ozaki KōyōYokoyama TaikanAkiyama SaneyukiKitamura TokokuHirose TakeoShiga KiyoshiKunikida DoppoKōtoku Shūsui
People of the Meiji period ・ People by period
Based on facts found in textbooks and biographies. Uncertain points are marked as such.