Japanese Literary Awards

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Hiroaki Mizushima

みずしま ひろあき

Mizushima Hiroaki

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1957-10-21 （Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan）
Nationality
Japan
Languages
Japanese
Residence History
Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan → Tokyo, Japan (work/residence) → London, UK (correspondent) → Berlin, Germany (bureau chief)

Career

Occupations
journalist, media researcher, university professor, television director, television producer
Active Years
1982-
Affiliations
Sapporo Television Broadcasting (STV), Nippon Television Network Corporation (NTV), Hosei University (former faculty), Sophia University (faculty)
Memberships
Black Company Award Executive Committee

Education

Hokkaido Sapporo Kita High School
Country: Japan
University of Tokyo
Faculty of Law / Department of Law
Year of Graduation: 1982
Country: Japan

Awards

Galaxy Award
1987
Work: Mother Died: Around Public Assistance
Category: 放送部門
Organization: Japan Council for Outstanding Television Program
Result: winner
Regional Era Video Festival - Excellence Award
1988
Work: Mother Died: Around Public Assistance
Category: ドキュメンタリー
Organization: Regional Era Video Festival Committee
Result: winner
World Television Festival - Overseas Jury Prize
1988
Work: Mother Died: Around Public Assistance
Category: ドキュメンタリー
Organization: World Television Festival
Result: winner
Arts Encouragement Prize by the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (Broadcasting)
2008
Work: Net Cafe Refugees: The Invisible Increase of Homelessness (NNN Documentary broadcast)
Category: 放送部門
Organization: Agency for Cultural Affairs / MEXT
Result: winner

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Mother Died: In the Age of the Happiness Illusion

1990 reportage / investigative nonfiction

Investigative nonfiction that examines the case of a mother and child who starved after being unable to obtain public assistance, using it to explore issues in the welfare system and social exclusion.

povertypublic assistancesocial exclusionadministrative failure

Net Cafe Refugees and Poverty Japan

2007 nonfiction / reportage

A book and related documentary following people who use internet cafes as places to sleep, reporting on homelessness and the insecurity of employment and living conditions.

homelessnessemployment issuespovertysocial welfare

Television from the Inside: Structures of Staging, Fabrication and Information Manipulation

2014 critique / media studies

A media-studies analysis that examines staging, fabrication, and information manipulation in television reporting and production from an insider perspective.

media ethicstrust in journalismproduction practices

Bibliography

  • Mother Died: In the Age of the Happiness Illusion
  • Net Cafe Refugees and Poverty Japan
  • Television from the Inside: Structures of Staging, Fabrication and Information Manipulation
  • Society Lacking Imagination (editor)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
investigative reportageon-the-ground reportingcritical and analytical
Recurring Motifs
poverty and social marginsthe functioning of administrationmedia practices and ethics

Legacy

Through reporting and scholarship on public assistance, homelessness and media ethics, he became a leading voice on poverty reporting in Japan. He helped popularize the term "net cafe refugees" and brought visibility to social issues through documentary work.

Academic Societies

  • Sophia University (Faculty of Humanities, Department of Journalism)
  • Hosei University (Faculty of Sociology)

In Popular Culture

  • The coinage "net cafe refugees" became widely used in media and public discourse.

Trivia

  • Coined the term "net cafe refugees" in reporting, which became established in public discourse.
  • Won the Galaxy Award in 1987 for the documentary "Mother Died: Around Public Assistance."
  • Served as chief director of NNN Documentary.