Kusuyama Masao (楠山正雄; November 4, 1884 - November 26, 1950) was a Japanese writer whose scholarship and criticism spanned several fields, including theater and children's literature. Kusuyama was born in Ginza, Tokyo. His father was a printer and publisher in the active, innovative environment of the early Meiji era. However, his father's premature death when he was only 3 years old bankrupted the family business. Still, Kusuyama managed to gain entry to the Tokyo Senmon Gakko (forerunner to Waseda University), where he studied English literature, afterwards working as an editor at several publications, including the Waseda Bungaku, Yomiuri Shimbun, and New Japan. Kusuyama was an active theater critic, and was especially drawn to Shingeki, avant-garde theater rooted in Realism and very strongly influenced by trends in the West. He then fell into translating or editing translations of foreign classical works and children's literature. As World War II approached, foreign literature fell out of favor and Kusuyama instead focused on Japanese children's tales, legends, and mythology.