Hisashi Inoue’s Followers (14)

Hisashi Inoue

Born

in Komatsumachi, Japan

November 17, 1934

Died

April 09, 2010

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Inoue Hisashi (井上ひさし Inoue Hisashi?, 16 November 1934 – 9 April 2010) was a leading Japanese playwright and writer of comic fiction. From 1961-1986, he used the pen name of Uchiyama Hisashi.

Inoue was born in what is now part of Kawanishi in Yamagata Prefecture, where his father was a pharmacist, who was also involved in an agrarian reform movement and who managed a local drama troupe. For reasons which are not clear, he was listed in the family registry as legitimate. He lost his father when he was 5 years old and after suffering from child abuse at the hands of his stepfather, he was subsequently sent off to a Lasallian orphanage in Sendai, where he received a Christian baptism. He graduated from Sophia University’s Facility of Letters, c Inoue Hisashi (井上ひさし Inoue Hisashi?, 16 November 1934 – 9 April 2010) was a leading Japanese playwright and writer of comic fiction. From 1961-1986, he used the pen name of Uchiyama Hisashi.

Inoue was born in what is now part of Kawanishi in Yamagata Prefecture, where his father was a pharmacist, who was also involved in an agrarian reform movement and who managed a local drama troupe. For reasons which are not clear, he was listed in the family registry as legitimate. He lost his father when he was 5 years old and after suffering from child abuse at the hands of his stepfather, he was subsequently sent off to a Lasallian orphanage in Sendai, where he received a Christian baptism. He graduated from Sophia University’s Facility of Letters, continuing on to graduate school in French literature, with a two-year hiatus in between to raise more money for his studies by working at a sanatorium in Kamaishi, Iwate.

Even before graduation, Inoue began is literary career as a stage manager and by writing scripts for the Furasu-za striptease theater in Asakusa, Tokyo. It was common to have a one-hour vaudeville performance before and between strip acts, and many famous actors, including Kiyoshi Atsumi started their careers in such an environment. He wrote a semi-fictional account of his life during this period in Mokkinpotto Shi no Atoshimatsu ("The Fortunes of Father Mockinpott"). After graduation, he obtained a position as a script writer for a puppet drama Hyokkori Hyotanjima, which aired from April 1964 for a five year period.

After an initial career in radio, he wrote his first stage play Nihonjin no Heso in 1969 for Theatre Echo. He first gained literary recognition for his satirical comic plays in the tradition of the Edo period gesaku genre. Inoue has won a very large number of literary awards in the course of his career, including the 67th Naoki Prize in 1972 for his novel Tegusari Shinju ("Handcuffed Double Suicide"). He followed on this success in 1981 with Kirikirijin ("The People of Kirikiri"), which was awarded both the Yomiuri Literary Prize and the 2nd Japan Science Fiction Award.

In 1984, Inoue established his own theatre troupe, called Komatsuza, to perform his own plays. These include biographical works on Meiji period writers Ishikawa Takuboku and Higuchi Ichiyō, whom he had long admired. In 1988, he completed a comic trilogy: Kirameku seiza, Yami ni saku hana, Yuki ya kon kon, depicting the lives of ordinary people in the Shōwa period. Despite his activity with the theatre, Inoue continued to write novels, winning the 1982 Seiun Award for Best Novel for Kirikirijin, the Yoshikawa Eiji Literary Prize for Treasury of Disloyal Retainers in 1986, the 27th Tanizaki Prize for Shanghai Moon in 1991, and the Kikuchi Kan Literary Award for Tokyo Seven Roses in 1999. In 1984, the Writer's Block Library was opened in Kawanishi, Yamagata, thanks to Inoue's donation of his 100,000 volume book collection. Inoue was awarded the Asahi Prize in the year 2000 and the Yomiuri Literary Prize again in 2010. In 2004, he was designated a Person of Cultural Merit by the Japanese government.

Chichi to kuraseba, has been translated into the English language by Roger Pulvers under the title The Face of Jizo.

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Hisashi Inoue’s books

Average rating: 3.74 · 407 ratings · 59 reviews · 66 distinct works • Similar authors

	Les 7 roses de Tôkyô by Hisashi Inoue, Jacques Lalloz (Translator) 3.82 avg rating — 85 ratings — published 2002 — 7 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Peripeţiile bunului Părinte Mackinpott by Hisashi Inoue, Emil Eugen Pop (Translator) 3.48 avg rating — 85 ratings — published 1972	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Je vous écris by Hisashi Inoue, Karine Chesneau (Translator) 3.59 avg rating — 54 ratings — published 1978 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Tales from a Mountain Cave: Stories from Japan's Northeast by Hisashi Inoue, Angus Turvill (Goodreads Author) (Translator) 4.02 avg rating — 41 ratings — published 1980 — 10 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	La bedondaine des Tanukis by Hisashi Inoue, Jacques Lalloz (translator) 3.23 avg rating — 35 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	十二個人的信 by Hisashi Inoue, 井上廈, 高詹燦 (Translator) 3.67 avg rating — 21 ratings — published 1978 — 7 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Face of Jizo by Hisashi Inoue, Roger Pulvers (Translator) really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 19 ratings — published 2001 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	New Tales of Tono by Hisashi Inoue, Christopher Robins (translator) 4.60 avg rating — 10 ratings — published 2013 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Tokyo Seven Roses: Volume I by Hisashi Inoue, Jeffrey Hunter (Translation) really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 9 ratings — published 1999 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Tokyo Seven Roses: Volume II by Hisashi Inoue, Jeffrey Hunter (Translation) 4.29 avg rating — 7 ratings — published 1999 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Hisashi Inoue’s Followers (14)

Hisashi Inoue

Combine EditionsHisashi Inoue’s books

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Combine Editions
Hisashi Inoue’s books