Japanese Literary Awards

← Back to Home

Koji Aoyama

あおやま こうじ

Aoyama Koji

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1913-02-23 （Kobe, Japan）
Died
2008-10-29 age 95
Nationality
Japan
Languages
Japanese
Residence History
Kobe, Japan → Tokyo, Japan

Career

Occupations
novelist, writer
Active Years
1935-2006
Affiliations
Japan Writers' Association
Memberships
Japan Writers' Association
Influenced By
Sakunosuke Oda, Osamu Dazai
Nominations
Naoki Prize nominee, 1956 (Hō no Soto e), Naoki Prize nominee, ca. 1960 (Shura no Hito), Naoki Prize nominee, 1976 (Chikubushima Shinjū)

Education

Third High School (old system)
Country: Japan
Tokyo Imperial University (now University of Tokyo)
Faculty of Letters, Art History / Art History
Country: Japan
Co-founded the literary magazine 'Umikaze' while enrolled

Awards

Hirabayashi Taiko Literary Prize
1980
Work: The Structure of the Struggle
Organization: Hirabayashi Taiko Literary Prize Committee
Result: 受賞
Kawabata Yasunari Literary Prize
2003
Work: Wagaimoko Kanashi
Organization: Kawabata Yasunari Prize Committee
Result: 受賞
Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette (4th Class)
1998
Organization: Government of Japan
Result: 受章
Shosetsu Shincho Prize
1965
Work: Shura no Hito
Organization: Shinchosha
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

The Structure of the Struggle

1979 non-fiction novel

A long non-fiction novel based on the Tsurumi disturbance, depicting conflicts among civil engineering contractors in the late Taisho period.

historylabor conflictstruggle

Wagaimoko Kanashi

2003 I-novel (autobiographical fiction)

A late-life I-novel exploring the author's inner life, family and memories; winner of the Kawabata Yasunari Literary Prize.

memoryold agefamily

Shura no Hito

1965 yakuza novel

A novel depicting the world of yakuza; one of his representative works marking a shift toward yakuza themes after the war.

yakuzaviolenceduty and human feelings

Out of the Law

1956 I-novel / social novel

A postwar I-novel style work; one of the stories that made him a Naoki Prize candidate in 1956.

law and orderindividual anguish

Bibliography

  • Kendan
  • Pure Separation
  • Night Visitor
  • People by the Sea
  • Betting Youth: A Novel about Sakunosuke Oda
  • Prime of Womanhood
  • Out of the Law
  • Son of Oni Tatsu
  • Wanted
  • Murder Contract
  • The Sun Rises in the Streets
  • Black Japanese
  • Scenes of Struggle
  • Shura no Hito
  • Ethics of Beasts
  • The World of the Yakuza
  • Beastly Devotion
  • Bakumatsu Sword Chivalry
  • Face Cutting
  • Endless Gamble
  • A Life of Fights: Naval Yokosuka Prison
  • A Life of Fights: Wandering the Remnant Streets
  • Chikubushima Double Suicide
  • Circus Drifter
  • The Card Peddler
  • Fukuhara Double Suicide
  • The Structure of the Struggle
  • I'm a Gambler
  • Our Mad Mentor
  • Voice of the Mother Sea
  • My Literary Wanderings
  • Sea Scenery at Dusk
  • When People Leave
  • The Beautiful Woman
  • The Nostalgic Burai School
  • O Beauty Eternal: Keats, My Genius
  • The Hourglass Speaks: An 87-Year-Old Writer's 20th Century À La Carte
  • The Era of the Pure-Blooded Burai School: Focusing on Sakunosuke Oda and Osamu Dazai
  • Wagaimoko Kanashi
  • The Person Who Doesn't Eat

Style & Themes

Literary Style
introspective I-novel styledirect depiction of yakuza life
Recurring Motifs
yakuza worldmemory and old ageconflict and duty

Legacy

A novelist active from the prewar to postwar periods, he moved from I‑novel roots to yakuza fiction and non‑fiction, known for a wide range of works and for stirring public debate with awards late in life.

Academic Societies

  • Japan Writers' Association

Trivia

  • Born in Kobe in 1913.
  • Co‑founded the literary magazine 'Umikaze' with Sakunosuke Oda while a student.
  • Multiple Naoki Prize nominations but did not win the Naoki Prize.
  • Won the Hirabayashi Taiko Literary Prize in 1980 for 'The Structure of the Struggle'.
  • Awarded the Order of the Rising Sun (4th class) in 1998 and won the Kawabata Yasunari Literary Prize in 2003.