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Komimasa Tanaka

たなか こみまさ

Tanaka Komimasa

Aliases: コミさん
Pen Names: Komi-san（Affectionate nickname）

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1925-04-29 （Sendagaya, Tokyo City, Japan）
Died
2000-02-26 （Los Angeles, California, United States） age 74
Nationality
Japan
Languages
Japanese, English
Religion
Baptist
Residence History
Sendagaya, Tokyo, Japan → Kure, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan → Hayamiya, Nerima, Tokyo, Japan → Los Angeles, United States

Career

Occupations
Novelist, Translator, Essayist
Active Years
1952-2000
Affiliations
Hayakawa Publishing (Hayakawa Shobo), U.S. Army 406th Medical Research Institute (Biochemistry Department), Tokyu Department Store 'Tokyo Follies' literary club
Influenced By
Raymond Chandler, James M. Cain, Ed McBain, Dashiell Hammett
Influenced
Rie Tanaka (daughter, novelist)
Nominations
Naoki Prize candidate ('A Day of an Automatic Wristwatch', 1971)

Education

Hiroshima Prefectural Kure First Middle School (now Kure Mitsuta High School)
Period: 在学期間不明
Country: Japan
Transferred during studies
Old Fukuoka High School (pre-war)
Period: 1940年代（繰上げ卒業）
Year of Graduation: 1946
Country: Japan
Graduated early in 1946
University of Tokyo, Faculty of Letters, Department of Philosophy
Faculty of Letters, Department of Philosophy / Department of Philosophy
Period: 1946-1952（在籍、1952年除籍）
Country: Japan
Admitted without examination; removed from enrollment in 1952 due to low attendance

Awards

Naoki Prize
1979
Work: "Mimi no koto" and "Rōkyokushi Asahimaru no hanashi" (collected in 'Yakushi no Tabi'/'The Itinerant Peddler's Journey')
Organization: Naoki Prize Selection Committee
Result: 受賞
Tanizaki Jun'ichiro Prize
1979
Work: 'Poroporo' (short story collection)
Organization: Tanizaki Jun'ichiro Prize Selection Committee
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Yakushi no Tabi (The Itinerant Peddler's Journey)

1979 Short story collection

A short story collection drawing on experiences of itinerant peddlers, everyday people and wartime memories. Includes pieces such as 'Mimi no koto' and 'Rokyokushi Asahimaru no hanashi', and contains works that won the Naoki Prize.

war experiencesfather-son relationshipeveryday lifetravel

Poroporo

1979 Short story collection

A collection of short stories that treat wartime experiences and the figure of the author's father. Noted for its wry humor and skeptical stance; it received the Tanizaki Jun'ichiro Prize.

memories of warfamily historymemory and narration

A Day of an Automatic Wristwatch

1971 Fiction (short work)

A short work focusing on the small details of everyday life. Published in 1971 and nominated for the Naoki Prize.

everyday lifetimeindividual perspective

Kaburitsuki Jinsei (A Life in the Front Row)

1964 Essays / Memoir

An early collection of essays recounting the author's youthful experiences and varied jobs with humor.

autobiographical elementspopular lifebar culture

Landing

1952 Short story

One of Tanaka's early short stories, published shortly after World War II.

postwaryouthful experience

Bibliography

  • Kaburitsuki Jinsei (A Life in the Front Row)
  • Ueno Shoukitai
  • Kaburitsuki Baka: Komisho Decameron
  • Nippon Butterfly Thoughts
  • Kanyin Mondo
  • Path of Colored Flowers
  • Komimasa's Front-Row Wandering Notes
  • Ah, Life Strip
  • A Day of an Automatic Wristwatch
  • Oh, I'm Sleep-Deprived
  • Phantom Woman
  • Maidens of Otome Island
  • Record of Impure Intercourse
  • Okhotsk Wife
  • My First Experience
  • Walks with Cherry
  • Komimasa's Japan Natural History
  • Komimasa Cine-Notes
  • The Wandering People of Shinjuku
  • Yakushi no Tabi (The Itinerant Peddler's Journey)
  • Poroporo
  • Big Head
  • Vietnam Princess
  • Furafura (Wandering)
  • Cats Walk at Midnight
  • Another Day
  • My Cinema Graffiti
  • Komi-san's Hangover Notebook
  • Amen Father
  • Iroha Poem: My Half-Serious Life

Translations by Author

  • The Last Man on Earth (Richard Matheson)
  • The Lady in the Lake (Raymond Chandler)
  • The Postman Always Rings Twice (James M. Cain)
  • The Harvest of Blood (Dashiell Hammett)
  • The Street Killer (Ed McBain)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
witty humorsympathetic portrayal of ordinary peopleconcise, breezy prose
Recurring Motifs
bars and drinking culturetravel and wanderingmemories of warfather and family issues

Health

  • Amoebic dysentery, malaria, cholera
    1944-1945（中国での徴兵・行軍時）
    Serious illnesses during wartime service with aftereffects (noted hair loss) and long-term health issues.
  • Liver failure; heart attack
    2000年（没）
    Hospitalized in Los Angeles in 2000 and died of liver failure following a heart attack.

Legacy

Komimasa Tanaka was known for his popular essays, translations of hard-boiled fiction, and a voice sympathetic to ordinary people. He influenced popular culture in Japan through his fiction and translations and remained a beloved figure for his distinctive, wry narration. Recent exhibitions and reprints have contributed to a revival of interest in his work.

Archives

  • Komimasa Tanaka Database
  • National Diet Library (holdings/authority data)

In Popular Culture

  • Appearances on the late-night TV show '11PM'
  • Appearances in films, TV dramas and commercials
  • Legendary presence as a regular of Shinjuku Golden Gai

Quotes

  • I'm just writing little by little. I'm a rather careless man.
    Source: Author's remark (interview / public statement)

Trivia

  • He was known for wearing a hand-knitted semicircular hat.
  • He preferred a routine of writing in the morning, watching film screenings in the afternoon, and drinking at night.
  • A regular of Shinjuku Golden Gai and an intimate of bar culture.
  • He once performed a sex scene in a pink film.