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Fusao Okubo

おおくぼ ふさお

Ōkubo Fusao

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1921-09-01 （Kiinagashima Town, Kita-Muro District, Mie Prefecture (now Kihoku), Japan）
Died
2014-07-25 （Nerima, Tokyo, Japan） age 92
Nationality
Japan
Languages
Japanese
Residence History
Mie Prefecture (birthplace) → Nerima, Tokyo (later life)

Career

Occupations
Editor, Writer
Active Years
1946-2014
Affiliations
Kodansha
Influenced By
Orikuchi Shinobu
Influenced
Jun'ichirō Yoshiyuki, Shōtarō Yasuoka

Education

Old-style Tsu Middle School (now Mie Prefectural Tsu High School)
Period: 1930s-1940s（旧制中学在籍）
Country: Japan
Attended old-style middle school before entering Keio University
Keio University
Department of Japanese Literature / Japanese Studies / Kokubunka
Period: 1940年代（学徒出陣のため一時中断）
Year of Graduation: 1946
Country: Japan
Studied under Orikuchi Shinobu. Enlisted as a student soldier during WWII and returned to graduate.

Awards

Arts Encouragement Prize (Newcomer)
1992
Work: Umi no Matsurigoto
Organization: Agency for Cultural Affairs (Arts Encouragement Award)
Result: winner

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Writers and the Literary World

1970 Essays / Criticism

An essay collection discussing the postwar literary world and editorial practice, containing observations from the editing field and thoughts on writers.

literary worldeditingpostwar literature

Umi no Matsurigoto

1991 Novel

A novel published after his retirement, centered on the sea and festival themes; it earned him the Arts Encouragement Prize (Newcomer) at age 70.

sealocal lifememory

What a Literary Editor Thinks

1988 Essays / Industry Commentary

A work outlining his views as an editor, discussing magazine production and relationships with authors.

editingpublishingliterary world affairs

Bibliography

  • Writers and the Literary World
  • What a Literary Editor Thinks
  • Umi no Matsurigoto
  • Towards an Ideal Literary World
  • What It Means to Be a Writer
  • Recruitment for Manned Torpedoes: A Student Soldier's Kamikaze
  • Writers' Golf: Along Thirty-Three Years of Niwa School History
  • Postwar Literary World Observations
  • A Writer's Attitude Toward Japanese: For Writing Excellent Prose
  • Writers and Editors
  • Writers Before and After the War

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Concise, critical prose shaped by editorial experienceEssayistic narrative voice
Recurring Motifs
discourse on the literary worlddepictions of editorial practicewartime experience and memorythe sea

Health

  • Cancer of the duodenal papilla
    2014年（終末期）
    Died at home on July 25, 2014. The illness was the cause of death.

Legacy

Known as an editor who revitalized the magazine Gunzo and supported numerous writers. Later gained attention as a novelist, notably receiving the Arts Encouragement Prize (Newcomer) at age 70, an unusual achievement.

Archives

  • Held by the National Diet Library (works and authority data)

Quotes

  • I thought that meant 'he declared he had no intention of writing for Gunzo,' and I decided there was no connection.
    Source: Postwar Literary World Observations (2006)

Trivia

  • Served as editor-in-chief of Gunzo from 1955 to 1966.
  • Won the Arts Encouragement Prize (Newcomer) in 1992 for Umi no Matsurigoto — notable for receiving a 'newcomer' prize at age 70.
  • Was sometimes nicknamed 'the demon of literature' for his strict editorial stance.
  • Known for not publishing works by authors such as Shintaro Ishihara and Sawako Ariyoshi in Gunzo.
  • Brother of Osaka University professor Shoichi Okubo and uncle of scientist Kosaku Okubo (professor at the National Institute of Genetics).