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Ryu Keiichiro

りゅう けいいちろう

Ryu Keiichiro

Aliases: 池田 一朗 / Ikeda Ichiro
Pen Names: Ikeda Ichirō（Real name; used for screenwriting）, Ryu Keiichiro（Pen name used for novels (adopted in later years)）

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1923-09-30 （Akasaka, Tokyo, Japan）
Died
1989-11-04 （Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan (Tokyo Medical University Hospital)） age 66
Nationality
Japan
Languages
Japanese
Residence History
Akasaka, Tokyo (birthplace) → Kyoto (attended Doshisha middle school) → Tokyo (later life; died in Shinjuku)

Career

Occupations
screenwriter, novelist, translator, university lecturer
Active Years
1957-1989
Affiliations
Sogensha (later Tokyo Sogensha), Rikkyo University — lecturer, Chuo University — associate professor, Kondo Teruo Production (collaboration)
Influenced By
Hideo Kobayashi, Yoshihiko Amino
Influenced
Tetsuo Hara, Mitsuteru Yokoyama
Nominations
95th Naoki Prize candidate - 'Yoshiwara Gomenjo', 101st Naoki Prize candidate - 'Yagyu Hijoken'

Education

University of Tokyo, Faculty of Letters
Faculty of Letters / Department of French Literature
Period: 1945-1948
Year of Graduation: 1948
Country: Japan
Studied under critic Hideo Kobayashi while at university
Doshisha Middle School (old system)
Country: Japan
Attended under the old system before advancing to Third High School
Third High School (old system)
Country: Japan
Attended the old-system Third High School

Awards

Scenario Writers Association Award
1959
Work: Nian-chan
Organization: Scenario Writers Association
Result: 受賞
Shibata Renzaburo Award
1989
Work: Ichimu-an Furyūki
Organization: Shibata Renzaburo Award Committee
Result: 受賞
Japan Film Producers Association Award (Special Award)
1990
Organization: Japan Film Producers Association
Result: 受賞
Japan Adventure Fiction Association Grand Prize (Special Award)
1990
Work: Kagemusha Tokugawa Ieyasu
Organization: Japan Adventure Fiction Association
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Yoshiwara Gomenjo

1986 historical/period novel

Set in the Yoshiwara pleasure quarter, it portrays conflicts and human drama surrounding a protagonist rumored to be an illegitimate scion of the imperial family and the local puppet entertainers. It was a candidate for the 95th Naoki Prize and later staged as a play.

Yoshiwara (pleasure quarter)human emotionssamurai societyloyalty and revenge
Adaptations
  • [stage] Yoshiwara Gomenjo (stage adaptation)

Ichimu-an Furyūki

1989 historical novel

A major historical novel focused on Maeda Keijiro, vividly depicting the life and humanity of the kabukimono (eccentric warriors). It served as the source for the manga 'Hana no Keiji' by Tetsuo Hara and achieved wide popularity.

kabukimono (eccentric warriors)men's livespopular/local history
Adaptations
  • [manga] Hana no Keiji — Beyond the Clouds

Kagemusha Tokugawa Ieyasu

1989 historical fiction

Centers on a kagemusha (double) of Tokugawa Ieyasu who acts to secure the Tokugawa legacy after Sekigahara. The work has been adapted into manga and television formats.

kagemusha (double)conspiracySengoku (warring states) history
Adaptations
  • [manga] Kagemusha Tokugawa Ieyasu (manga adaptation)

Nian-chan (film)

1959 film (screenplay)

A screenplay for a Nikkatsu film; one of his representative works as a screenwriter. It won the Scenario Writers Association Award.

youthhuman drama

Bibliography

  • Yoshiwara Gomenjo
  • Onimaro Zan'nin Ken
  • Kakuresato Kukaiyuki
  • Yagyu Hijoken
  • Ichimu-an Furyūki
  • Kagemusha Tokugawa Ieyasu
  • Sute-dōji — Matsudaira Tadatoki
  • Yagyu Shikakujō
  • Shinu koto to mitsuketari (Unfinished)
  • The Emperor of Flowers and Fire (Unfinished)
  • Kabuite Sōrō (Unfinished)
  • Kakekomidera Kage Shimatsu
  • To an Unknown Sea (Unfinished)
  • Kaze no Jusatsu-jin
  • The Pleasures of Period Fiction (Essays)

Adaptations

  • Hana no Keiji — manga adaptation by Tetsuo Hara
  • Nofu no Fue — Takarazuka Revue stage adaptation
  • Kagemusha Tokugawa Ieyasu — TV drama and manga adaptations

Translations by Author

  • Poetry collection by Paul Éluard (translated by Ikeda Ichirō with Shuichi Kato and Keisaku Kubota, Sogensha, 1952)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
popular, accessible prosecharacter-driven narrativesvivid period settings
Recurring Motifs
samurai lifeYoshiwara / pleasure quartershuman compassion and sentimentmarginal / popular social history

Health

  • liver cirrhosis
    1980年代–1989年
    Died of liver cirrhosis in 1989. His illness affected his late-career creative output.

Legacy

A longtime screenwriter for film and television whose later-career historical novels under the pen name Ryu Keiichiro caused a sensation. His works have been adapted into manga and stage productions and have influenced contemporary popular culture.

Archives

  • National Diet Library (author record)
  • Authority records such as VIAF / ISNI / BnF

In Popular Culture

  • The manga 'Hana no Keiji', based on Ichimu-an Furyūki, permeated popular culture
  • TV and stage adaptations have been repeatedly produced, keeping his works in public awareness

Trivia

  • He was fond of sake and is said to have drunk until 2–3 a.m.; he especially liked Asakusa.
  • The pen name 'Ryu Keiichiro' is said to have been given to him by the proprietress of his favorite izakaya.
  • On a doctor's advice he devised a vegetable-heavy 'three-meals pot' and succeeded in losing weight.
  • Anecdotally he carried Hagakure to the front during wartime; reading it there inspired his later writing.
  • As a student he reportedly wore loose undershirts with cotton padding to protect himself in fights.
  • An altercation in high school left a scar above his left eye.
  • He used his real name Ikeda Ichirō for screenwriting, and the name Ryu Keiichiro for novels.
  • When Tetsuo Hara visited him in hospital, a survival knife was reportedly found in his short boots, surprising the visitor.