Early Life
Miyazawa was born in what is now Hanamaki city, Iwate Prefecture as the eldest son of a wealthy pawnbroker. From an early age, he was disturbed by what he perceived to be the social inequity between his well-to-do family and the impoverished farmers in the area from whom his family profited by lending them money. Compared to his contemporaries, he demonstrated little interest in romantic love or sex, both in his private life and in his literary work.
In 1918, he graduated from Morioka Agriculture and Forestry College (Currently Iwate University). He was a bright student, so his academic advisor wanted him as an assistant professor. However, differences with his father over religion (he converted to the modern incarnation of Nichiren Buddhism termed Nichirenism or Nichirenshugi (日蓮主義), becoming a follower of the radical nationalist leader of the Nichirensugi movement, Tanaka Chigaku, and joining Tanaka's Kokuchukai organization in 1920), and his repugnance for the family pawnshop business (he yielded his inheritance to his younger brother), created much unhappiness in his early life, and in 1921, he departed Hanamaki for Tokyo.
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