城外 (Jōgai)

Takeo Oda (1900-1979) was a Japanese novelist born in Takada (now Joetsu), Niigata Prefecture. After graduating from Tokyo University of Foreign Studies' Chinese department and serving as a diplomat in China, he resigned in 1930 to write full-time, winning the Akutagawa Prize in 1936 for his novel Jōgai (Outside the Castle), drawing from his China experiences. Notable works include Lu Xun Den (biography of Lu Xun) and Ikutaifu Den (biography of Yu Dafu, which won the Hirabayashi Taiko Prize in 1975); Japanese Joetsu City Museum, Manchuria Literature.