The term bundan (literature group) refers to a type of unofficial literary guild that has connected many of Japan’s writers for over a century. The term was first coined in 1889 by Tsubouchi Shoyo to describe the cohesion of the Ken’yusha as it successfully lobbied for and controlled literary publication in the Yomiuri newspaper. As that group dissolved, naturalists and other writers took up the cause, and bundan played an important role in representing writers’ rights and pressuring publishers to pay decent fees for stories. In the 1920s, Kikuchi Kan served as the de facto head of bundan and, in his capacity as a publisher, brought greater security to writers and helped further solidify the structure of bundan by establishing literary awards that brought new respect to the writing profession. The bundan are self-regulating entities that are also highly exclusive, for example, eschewing scholars who also write novels. From the beginning, there were writers (such as Natsume Soseki and Mori Ogai) who did not join bundan, and even today Murakami Haruki remains aloof. Nevertheless, while bundan have changed and nearly expired several times, over the years their influence and power continue to shape the world of Japanese literature in very direct ways.
Historical dictionary of modern Japanese literature and theater. J. Scott Miller. 2009.