The Human Condition (Gomikawa novel)

The Human Condition (人間の條件, Ningen no jōken) is a six-part novel written by Junpei Gomikawa.

[1] The novel is about the experience of the protagonist during World War II and is partly autobiographical.

According to Naoko Shimazu, the novel is unique in that it portrays Japan as the aggressor during the war, and how the Chinese, Korean, and Japanese people themselves were victimized by those actions.

Shimazu said that the novel was important for "purify[ing] the Japanese from their polluted past, by expressing their deeply held anger".

[3] The novel was the basis for Masaki Kobayashi's film trilogy The Human Condition, released between 1959 and 1961.