Japanese Literary Awards

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Kunio Shimizu

しみず くにお

Shimizu Kunio

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1936-11-17 （Arai, Niigata Prefecture (now Myoko City), Japan）
Died
2021-04-15 age 84
Nationality
Japan
Languages
Japanese

Career

Occupations
playwright, director, screenwriter, novelist, professor
Active Years
1958-2021
Influenced By
Yukio Ninagawa
Nominations
98th Akutagawa Prize nominee (BARBER・New Hama), 100th Akutagawa Prize nominee (A Journey to Buy a Sickle in Tsukigata), 103rd Akutagawa Prize nominee (Kazetori)

Education

Niigata Prefectural Takada High School
Country: Japan
Waseda University, First Faculty of Letters
First Faculty of Letters / Department of Drama
Year of Graduation: 1960
Country: Japan
Published his first play 'Shomeinin' while a student

Awards

Teatro Theatre Award
1958
Work: Shomeinin
Result: 受賞
Kishida Kunio Drama Award
1974
Work: When We Descend the Merciless River
Result: 受賞
Kinokuniya Theatre Award (Individual)
1976
Work: Night That Fills Me with Shouts and Upswept Hair
Category: 個人賞
Organization: Kinokuniya
Result: 受賞
Art Encouragement Newcomer Award
1980
Work: Gikyoku Boken Shosetsu
Organization: Japan (Agency for Cultural Affairs)
Result: 受賞
Izumi Kyoka Literary Prize
1980
Work: My Soul Is Shining Water
Result: 受賞
Teatro Theatre Award
1980
Work: Those Clusters of Love
Result: 受賞
Yomiuri Literature Prize
1983
Work: Elegy
Organization: Yomiuri Shimbun
Result: 受賞
Art Encouragement (Minister of Education) Award
1990
Work: Younger Brother — Sister, A Message from Maiden to Ryoma Sakamoto
Organization: Agency for Cultural Affairs
Result: 受賞
Art Encouragement (Minister of Education) Award
1993
Work: Gorgeous River, Imprisoned Heart
Organization: Agency for Cultural Affairs
Result: 受賞
Kinokuniya Theatre Award (Group)
1994
Work: Kitosha (theatre group)
Category: 団体賞
Organization: Kinokuniya
Result: 受賞
Medal with Purple Ribbon
2002
Organization: Government of Japan
Result: 受章
Order of the Rising Sun, Small Gold and Silver Rays
2008
Organization: Government of Japan
Result: 受章

Awards & Nominations

Art Encouragement Prize for Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology 2 appearances
  1. Edition 41 (1991) award
  2. Edition 43 (1993) 受賞
    Work: 華やかな川、囚われの心

    華やかな川、囚われの心 is a work by 清水邦夫 and a recipient of the 芸術選奨文部科学大臣賞. It centers on personal experience, social atmosphere, memory, and changes in everyday life.

    An award-recognized work by 清水邦夫.

    220 pages
    award-winning literaturecharacter portraittime and memory

Works

Major Works

Shomeinin

1958 play

His early play published while at Waseda University; a notable debut that drew attention to the young playwright.

youthidentity

Green Room (Gakuya)

1977 play

Set in a theater's green room, it portrays actors' relationships and the boundary between reality and performance. One of Japan's most frequently staged plays.

theatre-internal lifefiction vs realityactor's solitude

Rainy Summer, Thirty Juliets Returned

1982 play

An ensemble drama about youth, loss, and intersecting memories; one of his representative works of the 1980s.

youthmemoryloss

Elegy

1983 play/novel

A lyrical work concerning father and son, dream and reality. Awarded the Yomiuri Literature Prize.

familydreamreality

Tango: At Winter's End

1984 play

A work created in cooperation with Yukio Ninagawa; performed overseas in London’s West End with a British cast.

internationalitydirection and actors
Adaptations
  • [stage (international production)] Tango: At Winter's End (London production) (1984)

Bibliography

  • At the Peak of the Flowers... Kunio Shimizu Play Collection (1986)
  • The Complete Works of Kunio Shimizu (4 vols., 1992)
  • The Complete Works of Kunio Shimizu 1992–2000 (2000)
  • Kunio Shimizu I & II (Hayakawa Theatre Library, 2009)

Adaptations

  • Tango: At Winter's End (London production)
  • Numerous film screenplays (e.g. Assassination of Ryoma, The Isle of Ghouls)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
modern dramalyrical and poetic descriptionsintersection of reality and fantasy
Recurring Motifs
youthfamily rupturememory and lossinside-theatre world

Legacy

One of postwar Japan's representative playwrights. His collaborations with Yukio Ninagawa and widely staged works such as 'Gakuya' left a broad influence; he also nurtured successors as an educator.

In Popular Culture

  • 'Gakuya' (Green Room) is widely known as one of the most frequently staged plays in Japan.

Trivia

  • Collaborated for many years with director Yukio Ninagawa in playwrighting and production.
  • Founded the theatre group Kitosha in 1976; the group disbanded in 2001 after 25 years.
  • 'Gakuya' (Green Room) is one of his representative works and has been staged numerous times across Japan.