Bungakkai (Literary World) describes two separate literary journals, one from the Meiji period and the other in current publication. Shimazaki Toson and Kitamura Tokoku founded the first Bungakkai in 1893, but it ceased publication five years later. The journal was one of the main venues for Romantic literature during the Meiji period. In 1933, Kobayashi Hideo and Hayashi Fusao (1903–75) reestablished Bungakkai as a platform for their advocacy of “art for art’s sake.” It was banned, however, in 1938 for publishing Ishikawa Jun’s antiwar story “Marusu no uta” (The Song of Mars). Editor-in-chief Kawakami Tetsutaro was fined, but Kikuchi Kan paid in his stead and the magazine then came to be under the jurisdiction of the Bungei Shunju Publishing Company, which has subsequently continued to publish the journal. A monthly, it is currently one of the big five literary journals and sponsors the Bungakkai Shinjinsho (Bungakkai Newcomer Award).
Historical dictionary of modern Japanese literature and theater. J. Scott Miller. 2009.