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Toshio Shimao

しまお としお

Toshio Shimao

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1917-04-18 （3-18 Tobe, Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan）
Died
1986-11-12 （Kagoshima, Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan） age 69
Nationality
Japan
Languages
Japanese
Religion
Catholicism (Roman Catholic) Baptized in 1956 （Baptismal Name: Peter）
Residence History
Tobe, Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan → Kobe, Hyogo, Japan → Nagasaki, Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan → Fukuoka, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan → Koiwa, Edogawa, Tokyo, Japan → Naze (Amami City), Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan → Ibusuki, Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan → Chigasaki, Kanagawa, Japan → Kajiki, Aira District, Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan → Usuki (Usuki-cho), Kagoshima City, Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan

Career

Occupations
Novelist, Librarian, Part-time lecturer, Associate professor, University lecturer
Active Years
1947-1986
Affiliations
Japan Art Academy, New Japan Literary Association, Literary circles (magazines) such as 'Koyo' and 'VIKING'
Memberships
Member of the Japan Art Academy
Influenced By
Fyodor Dostoevsky, Alexander Pushkin, Mikhail Lermontov, Tetsuji Yayama, Michizō Tachihara, Yojūrō Yasuda, Shizuo Ito
Influenced
Maho Shimao (granddaughter, manga artist)

Education

Kyushu Imperial University (now Kyushu University)
Faculty of Law and Literature / Department of Humanities (Oriental History)
Degree: 文学士
Period: 1940–1943
Year of Graduation: 1943
Country: Japan
Wrote a thesis on Uyghurs in the Yuan dynasty; graduated early in 1943 and enlisted as a naval reserve student.

Awards

Postwar Literature Prize
1950
Work: Shukkotoki / 'Outlying-Island Chronicles' (selection)
Organization: Getsuyō Shobō (organizer / historical record)
Result: 受賞
Art Encouragement Prize (Ministry of Education)
1961
Work: The Sting of Death
Category: 文芸
Organization: Ministry of Education (Art Encouragement Prize)
Result: 受賞
Mainichi Publishing Culture Award
1972
Work: The Silhouette on a Glass Shoji
Organization: Mainichi Newspapers (organizer)
Result: 受賞
Tanizaki Prize
1977
Work: Passage of the Day
Organization: Tanizaki Jun'ichiro Prize Committee
Result: 受賞
Yomiuri Literature Prize
1978
Work: The Sting of Death
Organization: Yomiuri Shimbun
Result: 受賞
Japan Literature Grand Prize
1978
Work: The Sting of Death
Organization: Japan Literature Grand Prize (organizing committee)
Result: 受賞
Japan Art Academy Award
1981
Organization: Japan Art Academy
Result: 受賞
Kawabata Yasunari Literature Prize
1983
Work: In the Cove within the Bay
Organization: Kawabata Yasunari Literature Prize Committee
Result: 受賞
Noma Literary Prize
1985
Work: Torpedo-Boat Student
Organization: Noma Cultural Foundation / Noma Literary Prize
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Solo Traveler

1947 Short story collection / Fiction

A postwar short-story collection that contains early works combining surrealist and I-novel elements.

dream vs. realityisolationpostwar experience

Everyday in Dreams

1948 Short story collection / Surrealism

A collection of surreal short stories in which dream and nightmare imagery intrude upon everyday life.

dreamsnightmaresidentity

The Sting of Death

1960 Long work / Autobiographical I-novel

A landmark autobiographical work based on the author's wife's mental illness and his caregiving; a sustained, documentary portrayal of domestic torment.

familymental illnesscaregivingguilt and atonement
Adaptations
  • [Film] The Sting of Death / 小栗康平 (Kōhei Oguri) (1990)

Departure Never Comes

1964 Fiction (linked stories)

A linked set of stories using departures and journeys to explore inner escape and stagnation, marked by wartime shadows and personal anxiety.

travelescapeanxiety

The Silhouette on a Glass Shoji

1972 Short story collection

A collection of short 'leaf stories' that portray fragments of domestic and urban life to sketch contours of existence.

everyday lifememoryfragments

Passage of the Day

1976 Long work / Linked pieces

A long work that delicately traces the passage of ordinary days; an important late-career book.

changing everyday lifeagingtime

Torpedo-Boat Student

1985 War-related linked stories

A linked series drawing on his naval reserve and Shin'yō special attack unit experiences; acclaimed for its wartime depictions and awarded the Noma Prize.

war experiencelife and deathdocumentary record

Bibliography

  • Solo Traveler
  • Everyday in Dreams
  • Outlying-Island Chronicles
  • The Sting of Death
  • To the Island
  • Departure Never Comes
  • The Silhouette on a Glass Shoji
  • Passage of the Day
  • Torpedo-Boat Student

Adaptations

  • Film adaptation of 'The Sting of Death' (dir. Kōhei Oguri, 1990) — Cannes Jury Grand Prix
  • Elements of Shimao's works have been used as part of source material in later films such as 'Umibe no Uta' (2017) and others.

Style & Themes

Literary Style
I-novel / autobiographical methodssurrealist imagerydocumentary / diary-like proseavant-garde
Recurring Motifs
dreams and nightmaressouthern islands (Amami) / island landscapesfamily and mental illnesswar experiencesmemory and trauma

Health

  • Duodenal ulcer
    1960（春）
    Prolonged hospitalization for several months; affected writing activity.
  • Heart disease (late life)
    1986（症状が顕在化）
    Worsening health leading to decline in 1986 prior to fatal stroke.
  • Intracerebral hemorrhage / hemorrhagic stroke
    1986年11月
    Hospitalized and remained unconscious for three days before passing away.

Legacy

Toshio Shimao is regarded as a major postwar Japanese writer whose oeuvre spans autobiographical family narratives, wartime accounts, and essays on the southern islands. 'The Sting of Death' is his signature work and has had broad critical and filmic impact; he received multiple major Japanese literary awards.

Museums

  • Haniya–Shimao Literary Museum (Haniya Yutaka & Toshio Shimao Memorial) Odaka (Minamisoma), Fukushima Prefecture, Japan
  • Kobe Literature Museum (holds related materials) Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan
  • Kagoshima Museum of Modern Literature (holds related exhibits) Kagoshima City, Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan

Academic Societies

  • Japan Art Academy
  • New Japan Literary Association

Archives

  • Haniya–Shimao Literary Museum (Minamisoma, Fukushima)
  • Collected materials in publisher archives (Shobunsha / Shobunsha series holdings)

In Popular Culture

  • Kōhei Oguri's film adaptation of 'The Sting of Death' (1990) — won the Jury Grand Prix at Cannes.
  • In Hirokazu Kore-eda's 'After the Storm' (film references c.2016/2017), a fictional 'Toshio Shimao Literary Prize' appears — an example of his name used in contemporary culture.

Trivia

  • He based 'The Sting of Death' on his wife Miho Shimao's illness and his caregiving experience.
  • He served as a commander of a Shin'yō special-attack unit, experiences that informed his war-related writings.
  • His granddaughter is manga artist Maho Shimao.
  • The film adaptation of 'The Sting of Death' (1990, dir. Kōhei Oguri) won the Jury Grand Prix at Cannes.
  • He was baptized into the Catholic Church in 1956 (baptismal name: Peter).