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Yuzaburo Otokawa

おとかわ ゆうざぶろう

Otokawa Yuzaburo

Aliases: 島田 豊
Pen Names: Yuzaburo Otokawa（Pen name used for published fiction）

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1953-02-17 （Tokyo, Japan）
Nationality
Japan
Languages
Japanese
Residence History
Tokyo, Japan (birth) → Chiba Prefecture, Japan (raised)

Career

Occupations
Novelist
Active Years
1996-
Influenced By
Shugoro Yamamoto

Education

Chiba Prefectural Kokubudai High School
Country: Japan
High school graduate
Vocational school for hotel and tourism
Country: Japan
Completed vocational program in hotel and tourism; later worked in hotels

Awards

All Yomimono New Writers' Prize
1996
Work: Yabu Tsubame
Organization: All Yomimono (magazine)
Result: winner
Historical Novel (Jidaigeki) Grand Prize
1997
Work: Kiri no Hashi
Organization: Jidaigeki Novel Grand Prize Committee
Result: winner
Yamamoto Shugoro Prize
2001
Work: Gonen no Ume
Organization: Yamamoto Shugoro Prize Committee
Result: winner
Naoki Prize
2002
Work: Ikiru
Organization: Naoki Prize Committee
Result: winner
Nakayama Yoshihide Literary Prize
2004
Work: Bukeyojinshu
Organization: Nakayama Yoshihide Literary Prize Committee
Result: winner
Osaragi Jiro Prize
2013
Work: Sekiryo Sanmyaku
Organization: Osaragi Jiro Prize Committee
Result: winner
Arts Encouragement Prize (Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Award)
2016
Work: Taiyo wa Ki o Ushinau
Organization: Agency for Cultural Affairs
Result: winner
Shima Kiyoshi Love Literature Prize
2017
Work: Logos no Ichi
Organization: Shima Kiyoshi Love Literature Prize Committee
Result: winner

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Gonen no Ume

2000 Historical novel (jidaigeki)

A historical novel set around the late Edo to Meiji period, focusing on human relationships and fate with detailed period depiction and psychological insight.

historical settinghuman dramaduty and human compassion

Ikiru

2002 Historical novel (jidaigeki)

A work that deeply examines the ways people live and the choices they make. One of the author's representative works and winner of the Naoki Prize.

life and deathconflicthuman dignity

Sekiryo Sanmyaku

2013 Contemporary novel

The author's first contemporary novel, depicting modern society, family, and individual issues.

modern societyfamilyindividual conflict

Logos no Ichi

2015 Novel

A novel centered on love and human relationships. Winner of the Shima Kiyoshi Love Literature Prize.

romancerelationshipsethics

Bibliography

  • Kiri no Hashi
  • Kichiji
  • Tsubakiyama
  • Mutsu no Habata
  • Gonen no Ume
  • Kazurano
  • Ikiru
  • Fuyu no Shirube
  • Bukeyojinshu
  • Akutabi
  • Mukoudanbara-tei
  • Sazanami Jowa
  • Shigure no Oka (Collected Short Stories — Ichii)
  • Otoko no En (Collected Short Stories — Samurai)
  • Tsuyu no Tamagaki
  • Yami no Hanatachi
  • Shoyo no Kisetsu
  • Uruwoshiki Hanami
  • Sekiryo Sanmyaku
  • Twilight Shuffle
  • Taiyo wa Ki o Ushinau
  • Logos no Ichi
  • R.S. Virasenyor
  • Aru Hi Ushinawazu ni Sumu Mono
  • Nijugo-nen Go no Dokusho
  • What Satisfies Us on This Earth
  • Chisaki
  • Nine Stories
  • That Spring Goes, That Summer Comes
  • Stealth Heat
  • Kunio Bampulusen
  • Risshu

Style & Themes

Literary Style
meticulous depiction of historical settingsdetailed psychological portrayalblend of classical narrative tone and contemporary perspective
Recurring Motifs
duty and human compassionfamily and kinshipfate and choice

Legacy

Yuzaburo Otokawa is a novelist best known for historical (jidaigeki) fiction; he has won major literary prizes including the Yamamoto Shugoro Prize and the Naoki Prize and has been praised for both historical works and forays into contemporary fiction.

Archives

  • National Diet Library (bibliographic records)

Trivia

  • Real name: Shimada Yutaka (島田 豊).
  • An anecdote holds that he began writing fiction after a story he wrote on a drunken impulse reached the final selection of a contest, prompting his literary career.