Naoki Sanjugo Award
1 appearances
Minoru Toyoda
とよだ みのる
Toyoda Minoru
Pen Names:
Jō Toyoda（Pen name used for publications (real name Minoru Toyoda)）
Profile
- Gender
- Male
- Born
- 1920-03-14 （Siping, Manchuria (present-day Siping, Jilin, China)）
- Died
- 1994-01-30 age 73
- Nationality
- Japan
- Languages
- Japanese
- Residence History
- Siping, Manchuria (birthplace) → Hozumi Town, Motosu District, Gifu Prefecture (now Mizuho City), Japan → Tokyo (worked for Chunichi Shimbun; literary activity)
Career
- Occupations
- Imperial Japanese Navy officer, Newspaper reporter, Novelist, Writer
- Active Years
- 1946-1994
- Affiliations
- Imperial Japanese Navy, Chunichi Shimbun, Souritsu-sha (publisher)
- Influenced By
- Fumio Niwa, Kanya Miyauchi, Donald Keene
Education
| Institution | Faculty | Department | Degree | Period | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gifu Prefectural Motosu Junior High School (now Gifu Prefectural Motosu Shoyo High School) | — | — | — | 〜1937年3月 | Japan |
| Imperial Japanese Naval Academy (68th class) | — | — | — | 1937-1940 | Japan |
| Naval flight student (36th class) | — | — | — | 1941-1942 | Japan |
Gifu Prefectural Motosu Junior High School (now Gifu Prefectural Motosu Shoyo High School)
Period:
〜1937年3月
Year of Graduation:
1937
Country:
Japan
Graduated (now Gifu Prefectural Motosu Shoyo High School)
Imperial Japanese Naval Academy (68th class)
Period:
1937-1940
Year of Graduation:
1940
Country:
Japan
68th class; received military education.
Naval flight student (36th class)
Period:
1941-1942
Year of Graduation:
1942
Country:
Japan
Completed flight training to become a carrier-based dive bomber pilot.
Awards
| Year | Award | Work | Category | Organization | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1951 | Gifu Prefecture Cultural Award | Midway Battle | — | Gifu Prefecture | recipient |
| 1971 | Naoki Prize | Nagara River | — | Naoki Prize Selection Committee | winner |
| 1986 | Medal with Purple Ribbon | — | — | Government of Japan | recipient |
| 1992 | Chunichi Cultural Award | — | — | Chunichi Shimbun | recipient |
Gifu Prefecture Cultural Award
1951
Work:
Midway Battle
Organization:
Gifu Prefecture
Result:
recipient
Naoki Prize
1971
Work:
Nagara River
Organization:
Naoki Prize Selection Committee
Result:
winner
Medal with Purple Ribbon
1986
Organization:
Government of Japan
Result:
recipient
Chunichi Cultural Award
1992
Organization:
Chunichi Shimbun
Result:
recipient
Awards & Nominations
Works
Major Works
Nagara River
1970 NovelNagara River is one of Toyoda's representative novels, depicting local society and human relationships; it won the Naoki Prize.
local communityhuman drama
Midway Battle
1951 War chronicleA war chronicle focused on the Battle of Midway in the Pacific War, containing descriptions based on historical sources.
warnaval battlesmilitary history
Seppuku: Surviving Captivity
1979 Memoir / Non-fictionA memoir based on prisoner-of-war experiences and postwar memories, depicting captivity and the associated psychology.
prisoner-of-war experiencesurvivalmemories of war
Bibliography
- Midway Battle
- Sea Monument
- Nagara River
- Sword of the Sky
- Youth in New Caledonia
- Naval Cadet No.4
- Waves and Pillows
- Midway War Chronicle
- Pale God
- Man of Silent Light
- The Mother of Lieutenant Ono
- Battlefield of the Southern Cross
- Emblem of the Sea
- Island of Execution
- Zuikaku: The Glorious Carrier
- Shootdown: Pacific Air War Chronicle
- Seppuku: Surviving Captivity
- Drift Record
- Bird Shadows
- My Half-Century of War and Captivity
Adaptations
- Film 'Rengō Kantai' (1981) — planning cooperation (related to author's work/consultation)
Translations by Author
- William D. Blankenship, 'Tiger Ten: Capture Operation of the Zero' (translated), Mikasa Shobo, 1979
- Harry Gordon, 'The Carp on the Trough: The Cowra Prisoner-of-War Mass Escape' (translated), Futabasha, 1979
- Edward J. Lohrer, 'The Stolen Cipher: The Truth Behind Yamamoto Isoroku's Assassination' (translated), Mikasa Shobo, 1979
Style & Themes
- Literary Style
- military-history and fact-based narrativerealist prose
- Recurring Motifs
- naval warfareprisoner-of-war experiencesconflict of military men
Legacy
Toyoda (real name Minoru Toyoda) is known for war chronicles and historical novels rooted in his naval experience. He won the Naoki Prize for 'Nagara River' and received honors such as the Medal with Purple Ribbon. His papers and collected works are preserved as the 'Toyoda Collection' at the Gifu Prefectural Library.
Archives
- Minoru Toyoda Collection (Gifu Prefectural Library)
In Popular Culture
- Provided planning cooperation for the film 'Rengō Kantai' (1981)
Quotes
-
I came to think that aside from the so-called ABCD encirclement and the actions of foreign countries including France and the Soviet Union, it was the nature of the Japanese state and the Japanese people themselves — and perhaps more the character and direction of politics, economy and diplomacy than the military — that led Japan into that war.
Source: Statement (quoted on the Wikipedia entry for Toyoda)
Trivia
- Graduated from the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy, 68th class.
- Was shot down and became a prisoner of war during the Pacific War; that experience influenced his later writing.
- At one point as a POW he used an assumed name (Makoto Otani).
- Buried at Fuji Reien cemetery.