Bungakukai Newcomer Award
1 appearances
Toshio Moriuchi
もりうち としお
Moriuchi Toshio
Profile
- Gender
- Male
- Born
- 1936-12-12 （Osaka Prefecture, Japan）
- Died
- 2023-08-05 age 86
- Nationality
- Japan
- Languages
- Japanese
- Residence History
- Osaka Prefecture, Japan → Tokyo, Japan
Career
- Occupations
- Novelist, Poet, Editor
- Active Years
- 1954-2023
- Nominations
- Akutagawa Prize nominee (1969): The Young One Rides a Donkey, Akutagawa Prize nominee (1970): "Wound", Akutagawa Prize nominee (1971): Going to Honegawa, Akutagawa Prize nominee (1972): Round Trip of Spring, Akutagawa Prize nominee (1973): Mayuyama (Eyebrow Mountain)
Education
| Institution | Faculty | Department | Degree | Period | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Meisei High School (Osaka) | — | — | — | — | Japan |
| Waseda University | Faculty of Letters | Department of Russian (Russian literature) | — | — | Japan |
Meisei High School (Osaka)
Country:
Japan
Waseda University
Faculty of Letters
/ Department of Russian (Russian literature)
Country:
Japan
Classmates included Akio Miyahara and Li Kaisei.
Awards
| Year | Award | Work | Category | Organization | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1969 | Bungakukai Newcomer Award | The Young One Rides a Donkey | — | Bungakukai (literary magazine) | winner |
| 1973 | Izumi Kyōka Literary Prize | Tobu Kage (Flying/Soaring Shadow) | — | Izumi Kyōka Literary Prize Committee | winner |
| 1991 | Yomiuri Literary Award | Until the Glacier Comes | — | Yomiuri Shimbun | winner |
| 1991 | Arts Encouragement Prize (Minister of Education Award) | Until the Glacier Comes | — | Arts Encouragement Prize Selection Committee | winner |
| 2004 | Yamamoto Kenkichi Literary Prize | Metronome in the Sky | 詩部門 | Yamamoto Kenkichi Literary Prize Committee | winner |
Bungakukai Newcomer Award
1969
Work:
The Young One Rides a Donkey
Organization:
Bungakukai (literary magazine)
Result:
winner
Izumi Kyōka Literary Prize
1973
Work:
Tobu Kage (Flying/Soaring Shadow)
Organization:
Izumi Kyōka Literary Prize Committee
Result:
winner
Yomiuri Literary Award
1991
Work:
Until the Glacier Comes
Organization:
Yomiuri Shimbun
Result:
winner
Arts Encouragement Prize (Minister of Education Award)
1991
Work:
Until the Glacier Comes
Organization:
Arts Encouragement Prize Selection Committee
Result:
winner
Yamamoto Kenkichi Literary Prize
2004
Work:
Metronome in the Sky
Category:
詩部門
Organization:
Yamamoto Kenkichi Literary Prize Committee
Result:
winner
Awards & Nominations
Izumi Kyoka Literary Award
1 appearances
-
Edition 1 (1973) award
Yomiuri Literary Award
1 appearances
-
Edition 42 (1990) award
Art Encouragement Prize for Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology
1 appearances
-
Edition 41 (1991) award
Works
Major Works
The Young One Rides a Donkey
1971 Short storyA short work that addresses childhood and the human interior in an allegorical and symbolic manner.
GrowthMemoryLoss
Tobu Kage (Soaring Shadow)
1972 NovelA work blending fantasy and reality; one of Moriuchi's representative pieces that won the Izumi Kyōka Prize.
FantasyIdentityMemory
Until the Glacier Comes
1990 Novel (with autobiographical elements)A novel drawing on the author's experience with mental illness. It received the 1991 Yomiuri Literary Award and the Arts Encouragement (Minister of Education) award.
Mental illnessRecoverySelf-exploration
Going to Honegawa
1971 Novel/Short novelA work set against local landscapes and nature that depicts inner life; it was an Akutagawa Prize nominee.
NatureSolitude
Metronome in the Sky
2003 Poetry collectionA poetry collection that treats time and memory in poetic language. It won the Yamamoto Kenkichi Literary Prize (poetry category).
TimeMemoryReligious imagery
The Afternoon Slope
1995 NovelA mid-length/long work that portrays inner states through everyday details.
Everyday lifePsychological portrayal
Bibliography
- Town · Moonlight Variations
- Going to Honegawa
- The Young One Rides a Donkey
- Tobu Kage (Soaring Shadow)
- Noah's Lost Thing
- Maranatha: Final Chapter
- After This Place
- The Day the Stone Revives
- Amniotic Flowers
- Gray Bird
- Map of the Palm
- Burial of Spring
- Town of Smiles
- By Morning
- Bone Fire
- Ecliptic Eighty Degrees
- The Bubblegum Girl
- Until the Glacier Comes
- Voice of Heaven
- Cherries
- Seeking the Water of Tanigawa
- The Afternoon Slope
- Sarashii (The Exposed Well)
- Short Story Saijiki (Seasonal Almanac)
- Reading the Gospels: The Life of Jesus
- Record of True and False Names
- The November Girl
- Metronome in the Sky
- In the Town Where Pear Blossoms Bloom
- Notes on Tsurezuregusa: Until Tomorrow Morning's Light Shines
- The Road Beyond the Road
- A Day's Light or the Shadow of a Pebble
Style & Themes
- Literary Style
- Fantastical and symbolic proseLyrical narration emphasizing interior psychological descriptionUse of religious and biblical imagery
- Recurring Motifs
- Religious imagery (Gospel motifs)Nature (glaciers, rivers, mountains)Mental collapse and renewalMemory and time
Health
-
Mental illnessHis personal experience of mental illness influenced his work and was thematized in works such as Until the Glacier Comes.
Legacy
Toshio Moriuchi was a postwar novelist and poet known for fantastical and symbolic prose. He received awards including the Bungakukai Newcomer Award, the Izumi Kyōka Prize, and the Yomiuri Literary Award, and is noted for transforming his experience of mental illness into literature.
Archives
- National Diet Library of Japan (holdings)
Trivia
- He used his real name (Toshio Moriuchi).
- Graduated from Waseda University, Faculty of Letters, Department of Russian.
- He was nominated multiple times for the Akutagawa Prize but did not win it.
- His 1990 work Until the Glacier Comes is based on his experience of mental illness.