was a Japanese novelist and short-story writer, and a member of the so-called " Third Generation of Postwar Writers" (第3の新人).

Life

Yoshiyuki was born in

Okayama is the prefectural capital, capital Cities of Japan, city of Okayama Prefecture in the Chūgoku region of Japan. The Okayama metropolitan area, centered around the city, has the largest urban employment zone in the Chugoku region of western J ...

, the oldest child of author

Eisuke Yoshiyuki was a Japanese author. He was born in Okayama Prefecture. His son, Junnosuke Yoshiyuki, was also a noted author; his daughter, Kazuko Yoshiyuki, a well-known actress; and his other daughter, Rie Yoshiyuki, was a poet and novelist. The 1997 NHK A ...

, but his family moved to

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 ...

when he was 3. He attended Shizuoka High School, where he grew interested in

Thomas Mann Paul Thomas Mann ( , ; ; 6 June 1875 – 12 August 1955) was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and the 1929 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novell ...

's stories, and in 1945 entered the

University of Tokyo The University of Tokyo (, abbreviated as in Japanese and UTokyo in English) is a public research university in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1877 as the nation's first modern university by the merger of several pre-westernisation era ins ...

. He left the university without a degree and began working full-time as an editor at a weekly scandal magazine, while spending much of his leisure time gambling, drinking, and frequenting prostitutes. Sexuality and

prostitution Prostitution is a type of sex work that involves engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, no ...

would form a consistent theme in his writing.

Works and awards

Yoshiyuki's first published fiction was ''Bara Hanbainin'' (薔薇販売人, The Rose Seller, 1950), followed by the novels ''Genshoku no Machi'' (The City of Primary Colors, 1951, revised 1956), ''Shūu'' (驟雨, Sudden Shower, 1954), for which he won the

Akutagawa Prize The is a Japanese literary award presented biannually. Because of its prestige and the considerable attention the winner receives from the media, it is, along with the Naoki Prize, one of Japan's most sought after literary prizes. History Th ...

, and ''Shofu no Heya'' (Room of a Whore, 1958). His novel ''Anshitsu'' (暗室, The Dark Room, 1969) won the

Tanizaki Prize The Tanizaki Prize (谷崎潤一郎賞 ''Tanizaki Jun'ichirō Shō''), named in honor of the Japanese novelist Jun'ichirō Tanizaki, is one of Japan's most sought-after literary awards. It was established in 1965 by the publishing company Chūō K� ...

. He won the

Yomiuri Prize The is a literary award in Japan. The prize was founded in 1949 by the Yomiuri Shimbun Company to help form a "strong cultural nation". The winner is awarded two million Japanese yen and an inkstone. Award categories For the first two years, ...

for his 1974 novel . Another of his most celebrated works, ''Yugure Made'' (夕暮れまで, 1978, published in English translation as ''Toward Dusk and Other Stories'' by Kurodahan Press, 2011), took 13 years to write but once published quickly became a best-seller and won the Noma Literary Prize. See also ''Fair Dalliance: Fifteen Stories by Yoshiyuki Junnosuke'', Kurodahan Press, 2011.

References

External links

Junnosuke Yoshiyuki
at J'Lit Books from Japan

Writers Noone Reads compilation on works in English
20th-century Japanese novelists Japanese male short story writers People from Okayama 1924 births 1994 deaths Akutagawa Prize winners Yomiuri Prize winners University of Tokyo alumni 20th-century Japanese short story writers 20th-century Japanese male writers {{japan-writer-stub