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Saburō Kawamoto

かわもと さぶろう

Kawamoto Saburō

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1944-07-15 （Yoyogi Yamatani-cho, Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan (now Yoyogi 4-chome)）
Nationality
Japan
Languages
Japanese, English
Residence History
Yoyogi Yamatani-cho, Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan (now Yoyogi 4-chome) → Asagaya-Kita, Suginami-ku, Tokyo, Japan → Shimorenjaku, Mitaka, Tokyo, Japan

Career

Occupations
critic, translator, editor, university lecturer, film critic
Active Years
1977-
Affiliations
Asahi Shimbun Company (Publishing Bureau; worked at Weekly Asahi and Asahi Journal), Rikkyo University Faculty of Letters (Special professor, 2010-2012), Tokyojin (editorial board member)
Memberships
Yomiuri Literary Prize selection committee member, Suntory Academic Prize (Social/Cultural) selection committee member
Influenced By
Truman Capote, Nagai Kafū, American literature
Influenced
Writers of urban walking books, Subsequent generations of film critics

Education

University of Tokyo
Faculty of Law / Department of Political Science
Degree: 学士 (法学)
Year of Graduation: 1968
Country: Japan
After graduation he attended graduate school at the University of Tokyo.

Awards

Kinema Junpo Readers' Award
1988
Work: Futte mo, Harete mo (serial)
Organization: Kinema Junpo
Result: 受賞
Suntory Prize for Social Sciences and Humanities
1991
Work: Taisho Genei (Taisho Phantoms)
Organization: Suntory Academic Prize Committee
Result: 受賞
Yomiuri Literary Prize
1997
Work: Kafu and Tokyo: Annotations to 'Dancho-tei Nissho'
Category: 評論・伝記賞
Organization: Yomiuri Shimbun
Result: 受賞
Mainichi Publishing Culture Award
2003
Work: Fumiko Hayashi's Showa
Organization: Mainichi Newspapers
Result: 受賞
Takeo Kuwabara Academic Prize
2003
Work: Fumiko Hayashi's Showa
Organization: Takeo Kuwabara Academic Prize Committee
Result: 受賞
Ito Sei Literary Prize
2012
Work: Hakushu: Scenic Views
Category: 評論部門
Organization: Ito Sei Literary Prize Committee
Result: 受賞
Kinema Junpo Readers' Award
2002
Work: What You Can Learn from Watching Movies (serial)
Organization: Kinema Junpo
Result: 受賞
Kinema Junpo Readers' Award
2024
Work: What You Can Learn from Watching Movies (serial)
Organization: Kinema Junpo
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

As Refreshing as the Morning Sun: Random Notes on Film

1977 Film criticism / Essays

A collection of essays and film criticism first published in 1977.

cinemaessayscriticism

My Back Page: A Story of the 1960s

1988 Autobiographical nonfiction

An autobiographical account of Kawamoto's experiences around 1970, detailing events including the Asaka incident.

1960spoliticsjournalismcoming-of-age
Adaptations
  • [Film] My Back Page (2011)

Taisho Phantoms

1990 Literary criticism / Cultural essays

A collection of essays on Taisho-era culture and urban life.

Taisho eracultural historyurbanity

What You Can Learn from Watching Movies

2004 Film criticism

A collection of film essays that attempt to read society and life through cinema.

cinemasocial criticismculture

Fumiko Hayashi's Showa

2003 Literary study

A study of Fumiko Hayashi and Showa-era literature and society.

Fumiko HayashiShowa erawomen writers

Hakushu: Scenic Views

2012 Criticism

Essays and criticism on poet Hakushu Kitahara.

poetryHakushu Kitaharaliterary history

Bibliography

  • As Refreshing as the Morning Sun: Random Notes on Film (1977)
  • Living in the Same Era: Moods (1977)
  • Backstreets of Cinema (1979)
  • Literature of the Contemporary Age (1979)
  • Run, Naphthalene Boy (1981)
  • Miscellaneous Entertainment (1981)
  • Walk the Town into the Movies (1982)
  • Mythology of Hollywood (1983)
  • Sensitivity to the City (1984)
  • My Back Page: A Story of the 1960s (1988)
  • Taisho Phantoms (1990)
  • Hollywood Boulevard (1991)
  • Tokyo Afterimage (1992)
  • Tokyo Kaleidoscope / My Tokyo Kaleidoscope (1992)
  • Kafu and Tokyo: Annotations to 'Dancho-tei Nissho' (1996)
  • Keep the Credit Title to the End (1996)
  • A Scent of Movies (1998)
  • Silver Screen Tokyo: Showa Revived Through Film (1999)
  • What You Can Learn from Watching Movies (2004)
  • Fumiko Hayashi's Showa (2003)
  • Hakushu: Scenic Views (2012)
  • Movie Merry-Go-Round (2021)

Adaptations

  • My Back Page (film, 2011)

Translations by Author

  • American Graffiti (George Lucas) — translation (1974)
  • Kaleidoscope (Ray Bradbury) — translation (1978)
  • The Water-Method Man (John Irving) — co-translation (1989)
  • The Tree at Night (Truman Capote) — translation (1994)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
plain, personal narrative voiceessayistic criticismcross-disciplinary essays centered on film and the city
Recurring Motifs
TokyoShowa eracinemaurban walkingurban landscapes

Legacy

A prolific critic and translator active across film criticism, literary criticism and urban-walking essays. Kawamoto helped popularize 'town-walking' books and shaped public understanding of film culture; his works have been recognized by numerous literary and cultural awards.

Academic Societies

  • Rikkyo University Faculty of Letters

Archives

  • National Diet Library (authority file)
  • Authority databases such as VIAF / ISNI

In Popular Culture

  • My Back Page (film adaptation, 2011)
  • Cited as a leading figure in the boom of urban walking books

Trivia

  • He was involved as a reporter in matters related to the 1971 Asaka Self-Defense Force officer killing case and was arrested in 1972; he received a suspended sentence (10 months imprisonment, 2 years suspended).
  • His wife Keiko Kawamoto died of esophageal cancer in 2008; during her illness he began composing tanka poems.
  • Early in his career he wrote magazine reports and even translated a Swedish pornographic novel, among other varied jobs.
  • A notable misprint occurred in a Sanrio SF paperback where the translator credit was mistakenly printed as 'incorrect translation' instead of his name.