Komatsu Kiyoshi and French Indochina

Abstract

Komatsu Kiyoshi (1900-1962) has been mainly known as a specialist in French literature—in particular as the principal translator of Andre Malraux’ writings into Japanese—but his work as an activist in French Indochina during the Second World War and his close association with many significant figures in the Vietnamese political scene for four decades from the early 1920s have been largely neglected. This essay attempts to provide a coherent picture of Komatsu’s relationship with French Indochina as a rônin, a kind of activist à la mode japonaise. It first looks into the making of this fascinating individual from his early years in Kôbe, then it considers his connections with the Indochinese in Paris in the 1920s, and his exposure to Malraux’ writings and activism. It then tries to clarify why Komatsu wanted to go to French lndochina, and in what activities he was engaged there between 1941 and 1946. The conclusion offers an assessment of the significance of Kornatsu’s engagement with French Indochina in the context of modern Japan and Vietnam.