Japanese Literary Awards

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Inuhiko Yomota

よもた いぬひこ

Yomota Inuhiko

Aliases: 小林 剛己 / 四方田 剛己
Pen Names: Yano Taketoku（Pseudonym used in early magazine submissions）

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1953-02-20 （Tennoji-ku, Osaka, Japan (St. Barnabas Hospital)）
Nationality
Japan
Languages
Japanese
Residence History
Tennoji-ku, Osaka, Japan → Imazuhamatamachi, Nishinomiya (childhood) → Shimouma / Shimo-uma, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo → Shimotakaido / Hamadayama area, Suginami-ku, Tokyo → Kichijoji-Minami, Musashino, Tokyo → Nakahata, Kohoku-ku, Yokohama → Tsukishima, Chuo-ku, Tokyo → Takanawa (Isarago Apartments), Minato-ku, Tokyo → Bologna, Italy (residence / visiting researcher) → New York (Manhattan) — visiting researcher at Columbia University → Tel Aviv — cultural exchange envoy / visiting professor → Belgrade — affiliated with Ethnographic Museum

Career

Occupations
comparative literature scholar, film historian, critic, university professor, translator
Active Years
1977-
Affiliations
Meiji Gakuin University (Professor; Director, Institute for Language and Culture), Toyo University (Lecturer), Columbia University (Visiting Researcher), University of Bologna (Visiting Researcher), Konkuk University (visiting lecturer / Japanese language teacher — stay in Korea), Meiji Gakuin University Institute for Language and Culture (Director)
Memberships
Suga Atsuko Translation Prize — selection committee member
Influenced By
, , , Lawrence Durrell, Jean-Luc Godard, Tatsuhiko Shibusawa, Shigeru Mizuki
Influenced
, , Naoki Yamamoto, ,

Education

University of Tokyo
College of Arts and Sciences (Humanities) / Faculty of Letters, Department of Religious Studies / Religious Studies
Degree: 学士
Period: 1972-1976
Year of Graduation: 1976
Country: Japan
Entered in 1972; studied religious studies and began film criticism during undergraduate years.
University of Tokyo, Graduate School of Humanities
Comparative Literature and Comparative Culture / Comparative Literature and Culture
Degree: 修士（修士課程修了）、博士課程中退
Period: 1976-1984
Year of Graduation: 1979
Country: Japan
Completed master's program (1979); doctoral program later left incomplete (left in 1984). Master's thesis on Jonathan Swift.

Awards

Saitō Ryokuu Prize
1993
Work: Tsukishima Monogatari
Organization: Saitō Ryokuu Prize Committee
Result: 受賞
Suntory Academic Award
1998
Work: An Invitation to Film History
Category: 社会・風俗部門
Organization: Suntory Award Committee
Result: 受賞
Itō Sei Literary Prize
2000
Work: Morocco Ryutaku
Category: 評論部門
Organization: Itō Sei Prize Committee
Result: 受賞
Kodansha Essay Award
2000
Work: Morocco Ryutaku
Organization: Kodansha
Result: 受賞
Japan Essayist Club Award
2002
Work: Scenes of Seoul — Memory and Transformation
Organization: Japan Essayist Club
Result: 受賞
Japan Association for Children's Literature — Special Prize
2004
Work: On Shirato Sanpei
Category: 特別賞
Organization: Japan Association for Children's Literature
Result: 受賞
Takeo Kuwabara Academic Prize
2008
Work: Japanese Marano Literature; Translation and Miscellaneous Gods
Organization: Takeo Kuwabara Prize Committee
Result: 受賞
Arts Encouragement Prize — Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology
2014
Work: Luis Buñuel
Organization: Agency for Cultural Affairs / Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology
Result: 受賞
Nobuo Ayukawa Prize
2019
Work: Promises of Poetry
Category: 詩論集部門
Organization: Nobuo Ayukawa Prize Committee
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Threshold of the Lumières: Gradual Desire Toward Cinema

1980 Film studies / criticism

An early collection of essays on film history and representation, marking his debut interest in cinema.

film historyimage representationfilm criticism

Tsukishima Monogatari

1992 Essays / Nonfiction

An essay collection interweaving personal memories and the Tsukishima area of Tokyo. Winner of the Saitō Ryokuu Prize.

memoryurban lifelocal history

A Theory of Manga

1994 Manga studies / scholarly

A major work analyzing expressive techniques and composition in Japanese manga; an attempt to systematize the grammar of manga.

manga theorytechniques of representationsemiotics

An Invitation to Film History

1998 Film history / introduction

A survey of film history centered on Japanese cinema. Awarded the Suntory Academic Award (Social & Cultural Studies).

Japanese cinemahistorical perspectivecomparative culture

Luis Buñuel

2013 Scholarly study / monograph

A study interpreting the works and ideas of filmmaker Luis Buñuel. Recipient of the Arts Encouragement Prize (Minister of Education).

director studysurrealismcomparative film history

Bibliography

  • Threshold of the Lumières: Gradual Desire Toward Cinema
  • The Summoning of Images — Essé Cinematographic
  • Tsukishima Monogatari
  • A Theory of Manga
  • An Invitation to Film History
  • Morocco Ryutaku
  • Scenes of Seoul — Memory and Transformation
  • Luis Buñuel
  • Promises of Poetry
  • The Domain of Cinema

Adaptations

  • Zokubutsu-zukan (film appearance)
  • The Imprisoned: Terrorist (film appearance)

Translations by Author

  • Colin Wilson — 'The Occult: A Study of Mysticism and the Psychical' (translation)
  • Paul Bowles — 'A Distant Episode' / 'The Spider's House' (translations)
  • Edward Said — 'Returning to Palestine' (translation)
  • Mahmoud Darwish — selected poems (translation)
  • Pier Paolo Pasolini — selected poems (translation)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
comparative and interdisciplinary approachessayistic, mixing personal reminiscencecombines theoretical analysis with personal nostalgia
Recurring Motifs
cinemamangamemory and nostalgiatravel and border-crossingcollectingfood culture

Legacy

Known for interdisciplinary criticism spanning comparative culture, film history and manga studies. He has had broad influence in teaching, translation and film research, won multiple major academic and literary awards, and mentored many students.

Academic Societies

  • Institute for Language and Culture, Meiji Gakuin University
  • Japan Association for Children's Literature (related)

In Popular Culture

  • Referenced in popular culture — a character named 'Yomota Inumaru' appears in Mamoru Oshii's anime 'Gosenzu-sama Manman-sai!' (as an example).

Quotes

  • I am not a film critic.
    Source: Interview / statement in his writings
  • "I'll be a little dog till your big dog comes" — cited as an origin of his pen name (from Carl Perkins' 'Matchbox').
    Source: Own writings (e.g. 'The Pleasure of Waiting')

Trivia

  • Birth name: Yomota Goki (formerly Kobayashi Goki).
  • The pen name 'Inuhiko' has an alternative origin story (misprint), but he attributes it to a Carl Perkins lyric.
  • Began film criticism in the cinephile journal 'Cinemagra' during university.
  • Served as a professor at Meiji Gakuin University and mentored numerous students.