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Kiichiro Takahashi

たかはし きいちろう

Takahashi Kiichirō

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1971-05-18 （Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan）
Nationality
Japan
Languages
Japanese

Career

Occupations
Writer, Novelist
Active Years
1996-
Influenced By
Haruki Murakami
Influenced
A generation of emerging writers

Education

Waseda University
Faculty of Letters / Department of Japanese Literature
Degree: 学士
Period: 1990-1994
Year of Graduation: 1994
Country: Japan
Began writing for doujinshi while enrolled

Awards

Shinsei Literary Award
2003
Work: Distant Lights
Organization: Shinsei Literary Society
Result: winner
Contemporary Literature Prize
2018
Work: Garden of Lights
Organization: Contemporary Literary Promotion Association
Result: winner

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Distant Lights

2002 Novel 280 pages

A protagonist returns to his provincial hometown and confronts childhood memories to reconstruct his family's past.

lonelinessmemoryfamily
Translations
  • English translation: Distant Lights (trans. Jane Suzuki)

Map of the Night

2011 Novel 320 pages

An ensemble drama set in the city's nights and alleys, where intersecting memories and secrets unravel.

urban lifesecretsintersecting memories
Adaptations
  • [Film] Map of the Night (film) / 中村修 (2014)
Translations
  • English translation: Map of the Night (trans. Maria Oohashi)

Garden of Lights

2017 Novel 240 pages

A novel-like work composed of linked short stories woven around the image of lights in a small town's garden.

communityinheritance of memorylight and shadow
Translations
  • French translation: Le Jardin des Lumières (trans. Émilie Lebrun)

Bibliography

  • Distant Lights (2002)
  • Short Story Collection 'Scenes from Alleys' (2006)
  • Map of the Night (2011)
  • Novella 'Winter Window' (2014)
  • Garden of Lights (2017)

Adaptations

  • Map of the Night (film, 2014)

Translations of Works

  • Distant Lights — English edition (2010)
  • Garden of Lights — French edition (2019)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
lyrical with detailed psychological descriptionstranquil scene-setting
Recurring Motifs
lightsshadowsalleys

Legacy

Praised for delicate depictions of people moving between provincial and urban settings, influencing a generation of contemporary writers.

Museums

  • Kiichiro Takahashi Memorial Room (Yokohama Literature Museum) Naka-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan Opened in 2022

Academic Societies

  • Japan Contemporary Writers Association

Archives

  • Kiichiro Takahashi Collection (Kanagawa Prefectural Library)

In Popular Culture

  • The film adaptation of 'Map of the Night' brought attention to works dealing with the city's dark corners

Quotes

  • Words are lights that illuminate the night.
    Source: Map of the Night (2011)

Trivia

  • He habitually takes a long walk before writing.
  • He keeps a cat, which often appears in his works.