Novelist. In 1918 he founded the Tolstoy Collection Publisher (later, Shunju-sha) and published the magazine Shucho, as well as establishing another publishing company, Toka-sha, all of which failed. He started to write in Jiji Shimpo using a pen name, Naoki Sanjuichi, in 1921. After the Great Kanto Earthquake he returned to Osaka and helped publish the magazine Kuraku (Joy and Sorrow), but again the attempt ended unsuccessfully. He then moved back to Tokyo and focused on novel writing. He published the historical novel Araki Mataemon (1930) and became a popular writer with Nangoku Taiheiki (The Chronicle of Nangoku) (1930-31). After he passed away in 1934, the Naoki Prize, a literary prize, was established to commemorate his achievements.