Japanese Center of the International PEN
Website: http://www.japanpen.or.jp/en/
Email Address: info@japanpen.or.jp
Editor/Consultant: Takashi Atouda
Country: Japan
Type: Organization
Description: The Japan P.E.N. Club was founded on November 26, 1935 as the Japanese centre of International P.E.N., which has its headquarters in London. By 1935, Japan, having left the League of Nations in the wake of the Manchurian Incident, was being pushed in the direction of international isolation. This was a cause for concern among liberal literary figures and diplomats, and it was against this backdrop that the Japan P.E.N. Club was founded in response to a request by International P.E.N. in London with the voluntary support of the leading novelists, poets, foreign literary figures, and critics of the day. Major novelist Toson Shimazaki served as the organisation's founding president, which also played the role of the Japanese centre of International P.E.N. Even when the suppression of free speech became severe during the subsequent Sino-Japanese and Pacific wars, the Japan P.E.N. Club maintained contact with the London office, protecting its unique position as a window to the world throughout this period.
(Directory entry)
Website: http://www.japanpen.or.jp/en/
Email Address: info@japanpen.or.jp
Editor/Consultant: Takashi Atouda
Country: Japan
Type: Organization
Description: The Japan P.E.N. Club was founded on November 26, 1935 as the Japanese centre of International P.E.N., which has its headquarters in London. By 1935, Japan, having left the League of Nations in the wake of the Manchurian Incident, was being pushed in the direction of international isolation. This was a cause for concern among liberal literary figures and diplomats, and it was against this backdrop that the Japan P.E.N. Club was founded in response to a request by International P.E.N. in London with the voluntary support of the leading novelists, poets, foreign literary figures, and critics of the day. Major novelist Toson Shimazaki served as the organisation's founding president, which also played the role of the Japanese centre of International P.E.N. Even when the suppression of free speech became severe during the subsequent Sino-Japanese and Pacific wars, the Japan P.E.N. Club maintained contact with the London office, protecting its unique position as a window to the world throughout this period.
(Directory entry)
