Kiyoshi Shigematsu

is a contemporary Japanese writer. He is one of the best-selling authors in Japan, and the major theme of his novels is about family."Shigematsu Kiyoshi"
''Japanese Literature Publishing and Promotion Center''. Retrieved 27 Oct 2015. His most notable works include ''Naifu'' (ナイフ) (1997), ''Eiji'' (エイジ) (1999) and ''Bitamin F'' (ビタミンF) (2000).

Shigematsu's works in other genre including journals, editorials and critics are highly commended.
''Bungeshinju''. Retrieved 27 Oct 2015. He also worked in novelising screenplays.

Biography

Shigematsu was born in Kume, Okayama Prefecture in Japan in 1963."第14回坪田譲治文学賞"
. ''Okayama Literary Prize''. Retrieved 27 Oct 2015. He spent most of his youth in Yamaguchi Prefecture. After he has graduated from Yamaguchi Senior High School in 1981, he went to Tokyo at the age of 18.

Shigematsu's life has changed during his years studying in Waseda University School of Education. Katsumi Togo ( 東郷 克美 Tōgō Katsumi) was his mentor. Since his third year of study, he worked as an editorial staff for Waseda University's literary journal, ''Waseda bungaku''. At that time, Kenji Nakagami was the mentor of the editorial department."三田誠広の小説教室第三十一回 強い男のやさしさ"
''eBOOK Initiative Japan''. Retrieved 27 Oct 2015. Shigematsu once mentioned that his works showed the influence of Nakagami.
. ''Asahi Shimbun''. Retrieved 27 Oct 2015. In fact, Shigematsu seldom read any books until he became the editorial staff of the journal, and thus he could barely involve in the members' conversation. He therefore every time memorised the names of the writers and titles of the novels they mentioned, and searched in libraries and book stores afterwards. He spent most of his money he got from the scholarship on books and read as much as he could, in the hope that he would be able to join the conversation one day.

After graduating from Waseda University, he worked for Kadokawa Shoten as an editorial writer. He later worked as a freelance writer using over 20 pen names, including Akira Tamura (田村 章 Tamura Akira) and Koshir Okada (岡田 幸四郎 Okada Kōshirō), when he novalised dramas and films, wrote for magazines and sometimes took on ghostwriting works.

In 1991, Shigematsu debut as an author with his first novel, ''Bifoa Ran'' (Before Run). He distinguished himself as a young adult writer, focusing on themes including bullying, juvenile crime and domestic problems.

Shigematsu suffered from a speech disorder known as stammering or stuttering when he was young, and he could hardly pronounce words starting with the sound "k", which made him struggled a lot when pronouncing his own name, Kiyoshi. Shigematsu projected his own experience in his novel "Kiyoshiko" (きよしこ) (2002).

In 2007, Shigematsu wrote the lyrics for the theme song, ''Meguriai'', for the 74th The Nationwide Contest of Music sponsored by NHK (secondary division). The same year, Shigematsu also contributed over thirty stories, entitled "A Thousand Years of Dreams", to the video game Lost Odyssey.

Awards

* 1999 ''Naifu'' (ナイフ) - Tsubota Shōji Literary Prize
* 1999 ''Eiji'' (エイジ) - 14th Yamamoto Shūgorō Prize"過去の受賞作品"
''SHINCHOSA Publishing Co., Ltd''. Retrieved 30 Oct 2015.
* 2000 ''Bitamin F'' (ビタミンF) - 124th Naoki Prize
* 2001 ''Jūjika'' (十字架) - 44th Yoshikawa Eiji Literary Prize"重松清-直木賞受賞作家"
. ''Naoki Award''. Retrieved 30 Oct 2015.
* 2006 ''Sono Hi no Mae ni'' (その日のまえに) - 3rd Japan Booksellers' Award ''(5th place)''これまでの本屋大賞本屋大賞
. ''本屋大賞''. Retrieved 3 Nov 2015.
* 2008 ''Kassiopeia no Oka de'' (カシオペアの丘で) - 5th Japan Booksellers' Award ''(10th place)
* 2014 ''Zetsumetsu Shōnen'' (ゼツメツ少年) - 68th Mainichi Shuppan Literary Prize

Nominations

* 1994 ''Miharitō kara Zutto'' (見張り塔から ずっと) - 8th Yamamoto Shūgorō Prize
* 1996 ''Osanago Warera ni Umare'' (幼な子われらに生まれ) - 18th Yoshikawa Eiji Literary Prize
* 1997 ''Naifu'' (ナイフ) - 11th Yamamoto Shūgorō Prize
* 1998 ''Teinen Gojira'' (定年ゴジラ) - 119th Naoki Prize
* 2000 ''Kakashi no Natsuyasumi'' (カカシの夏休み) - 123th Naoki Prize

Works

;Novels

;1990s

;2000s

;2010s

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shigematsu, Kiyoshi
1963 births
Living people
Waseda University alumni
20th-century Japanese novelists
21st-century Japanese novelists
Writers from Tokyo
20th-century Japanese male writers
21st-century Japanese male writers