Takeo Arishima

Takeo Arishima  was a Japanese novelist, short-story writer and essayistduring the late Meiji and Taisho periods. His two younger brothers, Ikuma Arishima and Ton Satomi were also authors. His son was the internationally known film and stage actor, Masayuki Mori.

Arishima was born on March 4, 1878 in Tokyo, Japan into a wealthy family as the son of an ex-samurai official in the Ministry of Finance. During his time in America, he became critical towards Christianity, attracted to socialism, and influenced by the works of writers such as Walt Whitman, Henrik Ibsen, and Peter Kropotkin.