Author. Izumi Kyōka earned wide fame as a prolific Japanese author of novels, plays, haiku poetry, as well as short stories, who was active during the prewar World War II period. Writing during the "Meiji Enlightenment," he is considered one of the supreme stylists in modern Japanese literature. Born Kyōtarō Izumi, he changed his name to Izumi Kyōka. Like other Japanese authors with pen names, he is known professionally by his pen name rather than his birth name. His family was very poor; thus, he attended the tuition-free Hokuriku English-Japanese School, which was provided by Christian missionaries. From a thiamine deficiency diet, he suffered with Beriberi and other gastrointestinal symptoms throughout his life. After graduating, he worked as a teacher in private preparatory schools before being introduced on November 19, 1891 to noted literary figure, Ozaki Kōyō, who aided him in a higher education by mentoring him. In 1893, he published with success in Kōyō's newspaper his first literary series, "Yazaemon Kanmuri." In 1894, he published "Noble Blood, Heroic Blood," which was adapted to a play. This followed with other publications, but in April of 1895, his first critical success was "The Night Watchman." In 1899 he met a geisha girl whom he later married. He was a small, shy, bespectacled man. Looking for a better life, he relocated several times in various cities in Japan. After Kōyō's death in October of 1903, he continued to publish his writings, including a five-volume collection. His writing differed greatly from that of the naturalist writers who dominated during his career. He remained true to his style of writing. Although his stories were vivid and imaginative pure fiction, many of his writings addressed real-life injustices of society. He wrote "Japanese Gothic Tales." He is best known for a characteristic brand of Romanticism preferring tales of the supernatural heavily influenced by works of the earlier Edo period in Japanese arts and letters, which he tempered with his own personal vision of aesthetics and art in the modern age. The difficulty and richness of his prose has been frequently noted by fellow authors and critics. In 1927 he suffered from a serious bout of pneumonia but recuperated. Twelve years later, he died from lung cancer. One source claims he published 221 books. Many of his writings have been translated into English with commentary notes. A statue of Izumi is located in his birthplace, Kanazawa.