Abstract
The life and thoughts of Mori Ohgai (1862-1922, Ohgai was a pen name) who was one of the most famous Japanese modern novelists in the Meiji Era are described biographically. Ohgai was born at the village of Tsuwanomachi in Shimane prefecture. Since a very young age, he began studying Confucianism with a private tutor and later continued his training at the Yorokan, the fief school, where he studied confucianism, classical Japanese literature, Dutch, and medical languages. And then he was graduated as the youngest medical student (20 years old) from the University of Tokyo in 1881. After enlisting in the army, he went to Germany as an army medic, He studied there hygienics under two internationally renowned scholars of the day, Max von Pettenkoffer and Robert Koch. Returning to Japan, he contributed in great measure to the development of modern Japanese literature and army medicine, In short, four items are discussed, i. e.; Ohgai's views on socialism; about “A New Aesthetic” and “The Philosophy of the Unconscious” written by the philosopher Eduard von Hartman which contributed much to the development of his literary personality; a new genre of biographical writing created by Ohgai; and the last years of his life.
