Hirotsu Ryuro, given name Naoto, was a Meiji novelist famous for his tragic novels. Born in Nagasaki, he traveled to Tokyo in 1874 to study German and then turned to writing in 1885 after serving four years in the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce. Hirotsu joined the Ken’yusha literary group and published two novels, Hemeden (Cross-Eyed Den, 1895) and Kurotokage (Black Lizard, 1895), which epitomized the tragic novel. His most famous work was Imado Shinju (Double Suicide at Imado, 1896). Retiring in 1908, Hirotsu died of a heart attack 20 years later. He was the father of writer Hirotsu Kazuo.
See also SERIOUS NOVELS.
Historical dictionary of modern Japanese literature and theater. J. Scott Miller. 2009.