Yōjirō Ishizaka

was an influential and popular novelist of post-World War II Japan.

Education and early career

Born at at Daikancho 82, Hirosaki, Aomori Prefecture, Ishizaka went to Hirosaki Middle School in 1913 and then to Keio University in 1920. On graduating, he took a position at Hirosaki Women's High School. Later, he became a teacher at Akita Women's High School. From 1929 to 1938 he taught at Yokote Junior High School.

In 1939, he moved to Tokyo, and in 1940, during World War II, he was a news correspondent in the Philippines.

Ishizaka the writer

His novel "Blue Mountain Range" ("Aoi Sanmyaku" 青い山脈) helped introduce the concept of the "New Japan" - a postwar culture that could look forward to a new future.

While widely popular in Japan, to the point that some of his stories were made into multiple movies, only a small portion of his writings have been translated and published in English.

Writings

* "Go to See a Sea" published in Mita Bungaku magazine (1927)
* Wakai Hito published in Mita Bungaku magazine (1933)
* Wakai hito (1937) (novel)
* Doku-ganryu masamune (1942) (novel)
* Aoi sanmyaku (1949) (novel)
* Ishinaka sensei gyojoki (1950) (story)
* Wakai hito (1952) (novel)
* Kuchizuke, III: Onna doshi (1955) (story)
* Nikui mono (1957) (story)
* Hi no ataru sakamichi (1958) (novel)
* Wakai musumetachi (1958) (story)
* Suzukake no sanpomichi (1959) (novel)
* Aruhi watashi wa (1959) (novel)
* Kiri no naka no shojo (1959)
* Kawano hotoride (1962) (story)
* Izuko e (1966) (story)
* Wakai musume ga ippai (1966) (story)
* Ishinaka sensei gyojoki (1966) (story)
* Hi no ataru sakamichi (1967) (novel)
* Dare no isu? (1968) (novel)
* Hi no ataru sakamichi (1975) (novel)
* Aitsu to watashi (1976) (novel)
* Wakai hito (1977) (novel)

External links

* IMDB listing for Yojiro Ishizaka http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0411151/
* Biography http://web.archive.org/20070616081122/www.media-akita.or.jp/akita-pioneers/ishizaka1E.html
* Key dates in Ishizaka's life http://web.archive.org/20070616081122/www.media-akita.or.jp/akita-pioneers/ishizaka2E.html
* Yojiro Ishizaka Memorial Hall http://web.archive.org/web/20070616081122/http://www.media-akita.or.jp/akita-pioneers/ishizaka2E.html