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Norihiro Kato

かとう のりひろ

Kato Norihiro

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1948-04-01 （Yamagata, Yamagata Prefecture, Japan）
Died
2019-05-16 （Tokyo, Japan） age 71
Nationality
Japan
Languages
Japanese, English
Residence History
Yamagata, Yamagata Prefecture, Japan (birthplace) → Montreal, Canada (research secondment with the National Diet Library) → Tokyo, Japan (residence and work)

Career

Occupations
Literary critic, University professor, National Diet Library staff, Researcher
Active Years
1984-2019
Affiliations
National Diet Library, Meiji Gakuin University, Waseda University
Memberships
Kodansha Non-Fiction Prize (selection committee member), Kobayashi Hideo Prize (selection committee member), Editorial board member, Shiso no Kagaku
Influenced By
Chuya Nakahara, Shunsuke Tsurumi, Jun Eto, Takaaki Yoshimoto
Influenced
Satoshi Shirai, Hiroki Azuma

Education

University of Tokyo
Faculty of Letters / Department of French Literature
Degree: 学士（文学）
Period: 1966-1972
Year of Graduation: 1972
Country: Japan

Awards

Shincho Gakugei Prize
1997
Work: Lectures on Language Expression
Category: 学芸
Organization: Shinchosha
Result: Winner
Ito Sei Literary Award
1998
Work: On the Postwar
Category: 評論
Organization: Ito Sei Literary Award Committee
Result: Winner
Kuwahara Takeo Academic Award
2004
Work: Far from the Text (and The Future of the Novel)
Organization: Kuwahara Takeo Award Committee
Result: Winner

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

The Shadow of "America"

1985 Literary criticism

Debut work collecting essays that critically examine the cultural influence of the United States and its reception in postwar Japan.

U.S. influencepostwar Japancultural reception

On Japanese Landscapes

1990 Essays / Criticism

An essay collection discussing Japanese landscapes, memory, and the social meanings embedded in scenery, using landscape as a lens on social change.

landscapememoryJapanese society

On the Postwar

1997 Criticism / Thought

A collected essay raising questions about postwar Japan's historical consciousness, the issues of apology and mourning, and the subjectivity of the Japanese in the postwar era.

historical consciousnesspostwar Japanapology and mourning

Postwar Thinking

1999 Criticism

A collection of essays considering the possibilities and limits of thinking from within the postwar context, including cross-disciplinary discussions of politics, thought, and literature.

postwar thoughtliterature and politicssocial criticism

Far from the Text

2004 Literary criticism

A collection of criticism that attempts to reread literature and culture by distancing from strict text-centered approaches.

text theoryliterary theorymethods of criticism

The Day Words Fall

2016 Essays / Criticism

An essay collection on language and expression, blending personal recollection with critical perspectives.

languageexpressionindividual and society

Bibliography

  • The Shadow of "America" (1985)
  • Toward Criticism (1987)
  • In the Fight Between You and the World, Support the World (1988)
  • On Japanese Landscapes (1990)
  • A Gentle Pace (1990)
  • Enamel Quality (1991)
  • Japan as a Body — Intellectual History of 'Dai/Shin/Taka' (1994)
  • Oh, That's How It Was—Tell Me Sooner: Notes on Visual Theory (1994)
  • How to Live in This Age (1995)
  • Lectures on Language Expression (1996)
  • On the Postwar (1997)
  • Short Essays — The Trajectory as a Critic (1997)
  • A Slightly Longer Essay — On Contemporary Japanese Writers and Works (1997)
  • Postwar and Beyond as Possibility (1999)
  • Japan's Non-Ideology (1999)
  • Postwar Thinking (1999)
  • Self-Portrait of the Japanese (2000)
  • Gradually Filling the Hollow in My Heart (2002)
  • Far from the Text (2004)
  • The Future of the Novel (2004)
  • Background of Narration (2004)
  • How I Became a Critic (2005)
  • Essay Collection on Haruki Murakami 1 & 2 (2006)
  • Advice for a Thinking Life (2007)
  • Dazai and Ibuse: Two Postwars (2007)
  • Ask Me Anything—56 Q&As to Survive Hard Times (2008)
  • Literary Map — Oe and Murakami over Twenty Years (2008)
  • Goodbye, Gojiras — Far from the Postwar (2010)
  • Covering My Ears, Listening to Songs (2011)
  • Reading Haruki Murakami's Short Stories in English 1979–2011 (2011)
  • Small Celestial Body — Complete Sabbatical Diary (2011)
  • 3.11 Pushed by the Angel of Death (2011)
  • If Humanity Does Not Continue Forever (2014)
  • Introduction to the Postwar (2015)
  • Haruki Murakami Is Difficult (2015)
  • From the Land of the Setting Sun: Political and Social Essays (2016)
  • Raising a World We Cannot Understand — Essays on Literature and Thought (2016)
  • The Day Words Fall (2016)
  • Imagination of the Losers (2017)
  • For the Soon-to-Come Sonno-joi Ideology (2017)
  • Introduction to Article 9 (2019)
  • Writing in Large Letters (2019)
  • Something Like a Poem — My 1000 and One Nights (2019)
  • My University of Tokyo Story 1966–1972 (2020)
  • The World of Haruki Murakami (2020)
  • The Postwar History of Article 9 (2021)

Translations by Author

  • Monet is Money (translation of Ted Escott)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
clear and logical proseessayistic and polemical critical stylearguments that cross literature, history and politics
Recurring Motifs
postwar Japanmemory and mourninglandscape and subjectivity in Japanlanguage and expression

Health

  • Pneumonia
    2019-05
    Died of pneumonia on 2019-05-16.

Legacy

An important voice in discussions of postwar Japanese literature, thought and historical consciousness. Through his university teaching and numerous publications he influenced younger researchers and critics and provoked public debate on historical awareness and postwar issues.

Archives

  • National Diet Library (authority and holdings data)
  • Waseda University Library (related materials / author page)

In Popular Culture

  • Used the manga 'Parasyte' as teaching material in lectures
  • Known as a passionate fan of Godzilla

Trivia

  • He sometimes used the manga 'Parasyte' as a text in lectures, though he wrote little on manga theory.
  • Known as a devoted Godzilla fan; colleagues noted he would speak passionately about it.
  • He cited musicians such as Tamio Okuda and Suga Shikao among his interests and credited them for his interest in J-POP.
  • He said he was not strong in English, yet he contributed English-language pieces to the New York Times.