was a Japanese writer.

Biography

Jun'ichi Watanabe was born in Kamisunagawa,

Hokkaido is the list of islands of Japan by area, second-largest island of Japan and comprises the largest and northernmost prefectures of Japan, prefecture, making up its own list of regions of Japan, region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō fr ...

, Japan. His starting point as a literate was the death of a classmate who was his first love in high school. He published his first works while still studying at Sapporo Medical University, where he graduated in 1958. He specialised in

orthopedic surgery Orthopedic surgery or orthopedics ( alternative spelling orthopaedics) is the branch of surgery concerned with conditions involving the musculoskeletal system. Orthopedic surgeons use both surgical and nonsurgical means to treat musculoskeletal ...

, while at the same time writing medical, historical, and biographical novels. Following the scandal about the first heart transplant operation performed in Japan in 1968, which became known as the "Wada incident", Watanabe left his medical profession and concentrated on writing. Watanabe wrote more than 50 novels in total, and won awards including the 1970 Naoki Prize for ''Hikari to kage'' (lit. "Light and shadow"), and the Yoshikawa Eiji Prize in 1979 for ''Toki rakujitsu'' ("The Setting Sun in the Distance) and ''Nagasaki roshia yujokan'' ("The Russian brothel of Nagasaki"). He gained wide attention with a series of sexually explicit novels, including the 1997 bestseller '' A Lost Paradise'', which was made into a film and a TV miniseries. He died on 30 April 2014 of

prostate cancer Prostate cancer is the neoplasm, uncontrolled growth of cells in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system below the bladder. Abnormal growth of the prostate tissue is usually detected through Screening (medicine), screening tests, ...

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

Works in English translation

*1969: ''Invitation to Suicide'' (''Jisatsu no susume''). In: ''Autumn Wind and Other Stories'' *1970: ''Beyond the Blossoming Fields'' (''Hanauzumi'') *1997: ''A Lost Paradise'' (''Shitsurakuen'') *2009: ''Beyond the Blossoming Fields''(''Deborah Iwabuchi, Anna Isozaki'')

Works in French translation

*2021:''Château Rouge''(''Kenzo Suzuki, Dominique Sylvain'')

Works in Spanish translation

*2009: ''Ginko. La Primera Doctora'' (''Seix Barral'')

Awards

*1965 (Showa 40) - 12th Shincho Literary Award - "Death Makeup" *1970 (Showa 45) - 63rd Naoki Prize - "Light and Shadow" *1979 (Showa 54) - 14th Yoshikawa Eiji Literature Award - "Distant Setting Sun" and "Nagasaki Russian Courtesan Hall" *1983 (Showa 58) - 48th Bungeishunju Reader's Award - "Voice of Silence: The Life of Mrs. Nogi Nokibe" *2003 Order of the Sacred Treasure, Purple Ribbon *2001 Knight's Cross of the Order of the Falcon (Iceland, October 16, 2001): Presented at the opening of the Embassy of Iceland in Japan.

References

External links

Junichi Watanabe's literature house
* Japanese writers 1933 births 2014 deaths Deaths from prostate cancer in Japan Japanese erotica writers Naoki Prize winners Writers from Hokkaido {{Japan-writer-stub