Japanese Literary Awards

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Kota Ishii

いしい こうた

Ishii Kōta

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1977-02-07 （Setagaya, Tokyo, Japan）
Nationality
Japan
Languages
Japanese
Residence History
Setagaya, Tokyo, Japan

Career

Occupations
Writer, Non-fiction writer, Novelist, Commentator
Active Years
2005-
Nominations
Kaikō Ken Non-fiction Prize (nominated), Ōya Sōichi Non-fiction Prize (nominated), Kodansha Non-fiction Award (nominated), Shincho Document Award (nominated), Yamamoto Shichihei Prize (nominated), Booksellers Award — Non-fiction Prize (nominated)

Education

Nihon University College of Art
College of Art / Department of Literature
Country: Japan

Awards

Magazine Journalism Award (Editors' Choice) — Special Prize for Disaster/Nuclear Reporting
2012
Work: Report: Mortuary Workers / Body Searches (related to 'Bodies: After the Earthquake and Tsunami')
Organization: Magazine Journalism Award Secretariat
Result: Winner
Hiroshima Book Award (Non-fiction)
2019
Work: Atomic Bomb: The People Who Rebuilt Hiroshima
Category: ノンフィクション
Organization: Hiroshima Book Award Organization
Result: Winner
Shincho Document Award
2021
Work: The Miracle of the Children's Hospice
Organization: Shinchosha
Result: Winner
Poverty Journalism Award
2021
Work: Social Maps of Inequality and Division
Organization: Poverty Journalism Award Organization
Result: Winner

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Mendicant Buddha

2005 Non-fiction

Debut book. A reportage-style non-fiction based on overseas fieldwork.

povertyreportage

Bodies: After the Earthquake and Tsunami

2011 Non-fiction

A reportage documenting mortuary work and body searches after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, based on interviews with those involved.

disasterdeathpost-disaster mortuary practices
Adaptations
  • [Film] Bodies: Ten Days Toward Tomorrow / 君塚良一 (2013)

Forest of Fireflies

2013 Novel

Ishii's first novel, a fictional work with narrative elements.

human relationshipsloss

The Miracle of the Children's Hospice

2021 Non-fiction

A reportage on a children's hospice, describing the facility's work and the surrounding community efforts.

healthcarehospicewelfare

Bibliography

  • Mendicant Buddha
  • God's Abandoned Bodies — Walking the Nights of Islam
  • Absolute Poverty — The View of the World's Poorest
  • Rental Child — Impoverished Children Toyed by God
  • Bodies: After the Earthquake and Tsunami
  • Forest of Fireflies
  • Waif Children 1945 — Children Born of War
  • 43 Acts of Murder
  • Atomic Bomb: The People Who Rebuilt Hiroshima
  • The Miracle of the Children's Hospice
  • Social Maps of Inequality and Division
  • Report: Who Is Killing Language Skills?
  • Familial Homicide: Because I Was Nearby
  • Why an Abused Boy Committed a Crime
  • Let's Talk About Real Poverty — Equations to Change the Future

Adaptations

  • Bodies: Ten Days Toward Tomorrow (film)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
on-the-ground reportageliterary description blended into non-fiction
Recurring Motifs
poverty and inequalitychildrendisaster and deathsocial margins

Legacy

Known for on-site reportage that has highlighted realities of disaster, poverty, and children. His work has also provoked discussion about the boundaries between non-fiction and fiction.

Academic Societies

  • JST / RISTEX Social Technology Research and Development Center (advisor)

In Popular Culture

  • Bodies: Ten Days Toward Tomorrow (film adaptation)

Quotes

  • TSURUMI Children's Hospice is a private facility sustained by donations and goodwill. I understand this prize is not only for me but for those people as well. I will donate the entire prize money to the hospice.
    Source: 20th Shincho Document Award acceptance remarks (2021)

Trivia

  • His father is stage designer Mitsuru Ishii.
  • As a university freshman he traveled alone to Afghan refugee camps and decided to become a non-fiction writer.
  • He donated prize money from an award to the facility featured in his work.