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Kisho Nakazato

なかざと きしょう

Nakazato Kisho

Pen Names: Hata Satsuki（Pen name used when submitting fiction to the newspaper 'Shimbun Akahata'）

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1936-03-13 （Nagasaki, Japan）
Nationality
Japan
Languages
Japanese
Residence History
Nagasaki, Japan

Career

Occupations
novelist, reportage writer, non-fiction writer
Active Years
1962-2004
Affiliations
Japan Democratic Literary Alliance
Memberships
Japan Democratic Literary Alliance
Influenced By
Shuji Miya

Awards

Takiji–Yuriko Prize
1969
Work: A Temporary Sleep
Organization: Takiji–Yuriko Prize Selection Committee
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Divergence

1963 Novel

Selected in the Japan Communist Party's 40th anniversary literary contest; depicts workers' daily life and struggles set in Nagasaki.

laborclasscommunity

A Temporary Sleep

1969 Novel

A novel serialized in 'Shimbun Akahata' incorporating the 'Sanmu Incident', addressing workers' lives and political issues; winner of the 2nd Takiji–Yuriko Prize.

labor movementpoliticsregionalism

Self-Destructing Volcano

1976 Novel

A novel portraying the collapse of an old household on the Shimabara Peninsula; probes popular consciousness through family decline and regional history.

family collapseregional historydecay of tradition

Unraveling Days

1977 Novel

Focuses on shipyard workers from hidden Christian communities, depicting intersections of faith, labor, and local society.

faithlaborcommunity

Descendants of Yoron

1981 Novel

A novel investigating the origins of underclass workers at the Mitsui Miike coal mine; depicts workers' roots and life histories.

labororiginshistorical inquiry

Sing Again

1973 Novel

Serialized in the early 1970s and completed in 1973; depicts the struggles of workers rooted in Nagasaki's local environment.

laborcommunityregeneration

The Farmers' River: Kuma & Kawabe

2000 Reportage

A reportage on the Kawabe River dam issue in Kumamoto Prefecture; a nonfiction account documenting the relationships among residents, the environment, and development.

environmental issueslocal communitiesdevelopment vs. resistance

Bibliography

  • Divergence (1963)
  • Nokoriyama (1967)
  • Divergence / Dismantling (1969)
  • A Temporary Sleep (1969)
  • Minakawa (1970)
  • Working Like a Human Being (1972)
  • On Poetry and Love (1973)
  • Sing Again (1973/1976)
  • The People of Hanamori (1973)
  • Miyamoto Yuriko (1974)
  • Self-Destructing Volcano (1976)
  • Kōyaki Island: A Pioneering Experiment in Local Autonomy (1977)
  • Unraveling Days (1977)
  • Youthful Yaponesia (1978)
  • Walking, Thinking, America (1980)
  • Where Are the Japanese Headed: Individual and Collective, Then and Now (1980)
  • Descendants of Yoron (1981)
  • Legends of Regional Revival: Chikuhō, Miike, Kōyaki Town (Reportage) (1981)
  • Many Days of Hunger (1981)
  • Landscapes of Children (1982)
  • Travels as Home: 120,000 km by Kei Car in Ten Years of Old Age (co-author) (1982)
  • Dad Was My Rival (1984)
  • Corporate Japan: Human Patterns (1987)
  • We Are Mugi (1988)
  • Building a Ship (1989)
  • Late Showa Period (1989)
  • Cruising: Scenes of Ships, Sea and People (1991)
  • The Story of the High-tech Passenger Ship 'Norsun' (1992)
  • Dementia: Tomorrow It Could Be Me (1995)
  • Dementia Check from 48: Preventing Alzheimer-type Decline (1995)
  • The Farmers' River: Kuma & Kawabe — What Is a Dam? (2000)
  • Echoes of Kan (2004)
  • Let's Write Reportage: Aiming for a Civic Collegium (ed.) (2004)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
proletarian/worker literatureregional realismsocial reportagerealist prose with lyrical touches
Recurring Motifs
laborclass struggleNagasaki's local environmentfamily collapsefaith (hidden Christians)regional conflict over development

Health

  • tuberculosis
    青年期（中学卒業後）
    During his battle with tuberculosis he became drawn to literature, which led him to write tanka and later fiction.

Legacy

Kisho Nakazato is known for works emphasizing Nagasaki's regional character and the perspective of workers. He is recognized within 1960s–80s worker and social literature, and in later years contributed to regional and environmental issues through reportage.

Academic Societies

  • Japan Democratic Literary Alliance

Trivia

  • Worked at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (then West Japan Heavy Industries) Nagasaki Shipyard.
  • Suffered from tuberculosis in his youth and underwent a period of convalescence.
  • Submitted fiction to 'Shimbun Akahata' under the pen name 'Hata Satsuki'.
  • Participated in the founding of the Japan Democratic Literary Alliance and served as its secretary-general.
  • Won the 2nd Takiji–Yuriko Prize for 'A Temporary Sleep'.
  • In later years focused on reportage, including writing on the Kawabe River dam issue.