- Hisashi Inoue
Infobox Writer
name = Inoue Hisashi
caption = Inoue Hisashi
birthdate = Birth date and age|1934|11|16|df=y
birthplace =Kawanishi, Yamagata ,Japan
deathdate =
deathplace =
occupation = writer
genre = novels, stage plays
movement =
notableworks =
influences =
influenced = nihongo|Inoue Hisashi|井上ひさし|Inoue Hisashi|extra=16 November 1934 - is a leadingJapan ese playwright and writer of comic fiction.Biography
Inoue was born in the small town of Kawanishi in
Yamagata Prefecture . He lost his father when he was 4 years old and was subsequently sent off to aLasallian home for children where he received aChristian baptism . He graduated fromSophia University .After an initial career in
radio , he wrote his firststage play "Nihonjin no Heso" in 1969 for Theatre Echo. He first gained literary recognition for his satirical comic plays in the tradition of theEdo period "Gesaku " genre.Inoue has won a very large number of literary awards in the course of his career, including the 67th
Naoki Prize in 1972 for his novel "Tegusari Shinju" ("Handcuffed Double Suicide"). He followed on this success in 1981 with "Kirikirijin " ("The People of Kirikiri"), which was awarded both theYomiuri Literary Prize and the 2nd Japan Science Fiction Award.In 1984, he established his own theatre troupe, called "Komatsuza", to perform his own plays. These include biographical works on
Meiji period writersIshikawa Takuboku andHiguchi Ichiyo , whom he had long admired. In 1988, he completed a comic trilogy: "Kirameku seiza, Yami ni saku hana, Yuki ya kon kon", depicting the lives of ordinary people in theShowa period .Despite his activity with the theatre, Inoue continues to write, winning the 1982
Seiun Award for Best Novel for "Kirikirijin", theYoshikawa Eiji Literary Prize for "Treasury of Disloyal Retainers" in 1986, the 27thTanizaki Prize for "Shanghai Moon" in 1991, and theKikuchi Kan Literary Award for "Tokyo Seven Roses" in 1999.In 1984, the Writer's Block Library was opened in Kawanishimachi, Yamagata prefecture, thanks to Inoue's donation of his 100,000 volume book collection.
Inoue served as president of the Japan
P.E.N. Club from 2003 to 2007. "Chichi to kuraseba", has been translated into theEnglish language by Roger Pulvers under the title "The Face of Jizo".Since 1989, he has lived in
Kamakura, Kanagawa .Selected works
* "Ame" (雨), 1976.
* "Buraun kangoku no shiki" (ブラウン 監獄 の 四季), Tōkyō : Kōdansha, 1977.
* "Jūninin no tegami" (十二人 の 手紙), Tōkyō : Chūō Kōronsha, 1978.
* "Tanin no chi" (他人 の 血), Tōkyō : Kōdansha, 1979.
* "Seibo no dōkeshi, 1981.
* "Shikaban Nihongo bunpō" (私家版 日本語 文法), Tokyo : Shinchōsha, 1981.
* "Hon no makura no sōshi", Tōkyō : Bungei Shunjū, 1982.
* "Kotoba o yomu", Tōkyō : Chūō Kōronsha, 1982.
* "Shichinin no sakkatachi : intabyū-shū" (七人 の 作家たち : インタビュー集), Tōkyō : Doyō Bijutsusha, 1983.
* "Moto no mokuami", Tōkyō : Bungei Shunjū, 1983.
* "Nippon hakubutsushi", Tōkyō : Asahi Shinbunsha, 1983.
* "Inoue Hisashi zen shibai", Tōkyō : Shinchōsha, 1984.
* "Jikasei bunshō-dokuhon" (自家製 文章読本), Tōkyō : Shinchōsha, 1984.
* "Fu Chūshingura" (不 忠臣蔵), Tōkyō : Shūeisha, 1985.
* "Kuni yutaka ni shite gi o wasure" (国 ゆたか に して 義 を 忘れ), Tōkyō : Kadokawa Shoten, 1985.
* "Fukkoki" (腹鼓記), Tōkyō : Shinchōsha, 1985.
* "Yonsenmanpo no otoko. Ezo hen" (四千万步 の 男. 蝦夷 篇 ), Tōkyō : Kōdansha, 1986.
* "Yonsenmanpo no otoko. Izu hen" (四千万步 の 男. 伊豆 篇 ), Tōkyō : Kōdansha, 1989.
* "Shanhai mūn", (シャンハイ ムーン), Tōkyō : Shūeisha, 1991.
* "Nihongo nikki" (ニホン語 日記), Tōkyō : Bungei shunjū, 1993.
* "Besuto serā no sengoshi" (ベスト セラー の 戦後史), Tōkyō : Bungei Shunjū, 1995.
* "Hon no unmei" (本 の 運命), Tōkyō : Bungei Shunjū, 1997.
* "Yonsenmanpo no otoko, Chūkei no ikikata" (四千万步 の 男・忠敬 の 生き方), Tōkyō : Kōdansha, 2003.External links
* [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,921346,00.html Time Magazine article from August 1 1983]
* [http://www.komatsuza.co.jp/hisashi_pro.html Home page of Komatsuza Theater Company (Japanese)]
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