The Japan P.E.N Club

The Japan P.E.N Club is the Japanese centre of International P.E.N., an international organization of people engaged in literature and cultural expression founded in 1921. According to its official site, the Japan P.E.N Club works to defend freedom of speech, expression and publishing, to promote literature and international cultural exchange, and to contribute to world peace, based on the International P.E.N. Charter. Its members are expression professionals such as poets, writers, journalists and editors, and its first president was Shimazaki Tōson. It was founded in November 1935 by about 100 literary figures and marked its 90th anniversary in 2025.

International P.E.N. was founded in 1921 by European literary figures who, witnessing the devastation after World War I, believed that defending freedom of speech and expression and enabling writers to understand each other's works across borders was a path to preventing war and contributing to peace; its headquarters is in London. In November 1935, the Japan P.E.N Club was established with Shimazaki Tōson as president and about 100 literary figures. The outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Pacific War suppressed its activities, and free speech was stifled until the defeat in the summer of 1945. After the war, the club declared its resolve to rebuild and rejoined International P.E.N. in June 1948. It hosted International P.E.N. congresses in Tokyo in 1957 (theme: mutual influence of Eastern and Western literature) and in 1984 (theme: literature under the nuclear situation). In 2004 it published 'Even So, I Oppose War' (Heibonsha), and in February 2008 it held its own World P.E.N. Forum 'Disaster and Culture.' The club marked its 90th anniversary in 2025.

1. 1日本ペンクラブjapanpen.or.jp
2. 2私たちについて | 日本ペンクラブjapanpen.or.jp
3. 3日本ペンクラブとは | 日本ペンクラブjapanpen.or.jp
4. 4日本ペンクラブの歩み | 日本ペンクラブjapanpen.or.jp
5. 5The Japan P.E.N Clubwikidata.org
6. 6日本笔会zh.wikipedia.org