C. W. Nicol
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Clive William Nicol,
MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...
(; 17 July 1940 – 3 April 2020) was a British-born Japanese writer. He was a long-time resident and citizen of Japan.


Early life

Nicol was born in
Neath Neath (; cy, Castell-nedd) is a market town and Community (Wales), community situated in the Neath Port Talbot, Neath Port Talbot County Borough, Wales. The town had a population of 50,658 in 2011. The community of the parish of Neath had a po ...
, Wales. He graduated from
Tokyo University of Science , formerly "Science University of Tokyo" or TUS, informally or simply is a private research university located in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan. History Tokyo University of Science was founded in 1881 as The Tokyo Academy of Physics by 21 graduates ...
.


Career

In 1958, Nicol visited the
Arctic Circle The Arctic Circle is one of the two polar circles, and the most northerly of the five major circles of latitude as shown on maps of Earth. Its southern equivalent is the Antarctic Circle. The Arctic Circle marks the southernmost latitude at w ...
to research
eider duck Eiders () are large seaducks in the genus ''Somateria''. The three extant species all breed in the cooler latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere. The down feathers of eider ducks, and some other ducks and geese, are used to fill pillows and quilt ...
s. He became a Canadian citizen. By the early 1960s, he was studying
Shotokan is a style of karate, developed from various martial arts by Gichin Funakoshi (1868–1957) and his son Gigo (Yoshitaka) Funakoshi (1906–1945). Gichin Funakoshi was born in Okinawa and is widely credited with popularizing "karate do" throu ...
karate (; ; Okinawan language, Okinawan pronunciation: ) is a martial arts, martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the Okinawan martial arts, indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tii'' in Okinawan) under the ...
-Do at the headquarters of the
Japan Karate Association Japan Karate Association (日本 空手 協会; ''Nihon Karate Kyokai''; JKA; sometimes referred to simply as ''Kyokai'' 協会 in Japan) is one of the oldest global Shotokan karate organization in the world. Origins Gichin Funakoshi played a ma ...
(JKA) and studied Japanese and fisheries at
Nihon University , abbreviated as , is a private university, private research university in Japan. Its predecessor, Nihon Law School (currently the Department of Law), was founded by Yamada Akiyoshi, the Minister of Justice (Japan), Minister of Justice, in 1889. ...
. He spent 1967 to 1969 as a
game warden A conservation officer is a law enforcement officer who protects wildlife and the environment. A conservation officer may also be referred to as an environmental technician or technologist, game warden, forest ranger, forest watcher, forest gu ...
in
Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...
, setting up the new
Semien Mountains National Park Simien Mountains National Park is the largest national park in Ethiopia. Located in the North Gondar Zone of the Amhara Region, its territory covers the highest parts of the Simien Mountains and includes Ras Dashan, the highest point in Et ...
. He returned to Japan, writing a book about his Ethiopian experiences entitled ''From the Roof of Africa'' (1971). After he took up residence in Japan, Nicol focused on writing books and other literary works. In 1980, he won the Japan Broadcasting Writer's Award for a television drama written in Japanese. He continued to be an active
environmentalist An environmentalist is a person who is concerned with and/or advocates for the protection of the environment. An environmentalist can be considered a supporter of the goals of the environmental movement, "a political and ethical movement that se ...
and lecture about the environment, addressing issues such as
deforestation Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. The most concentrated d ...
and the preservation of natural environments. He was particularly interested in restoring Japan's vast woodlands. The C. W. Nicol Afan Woodland in Kurohime, Shinanomachi, Nagano Prefecture, was established in 1986. Nicol became a Japanese citizen (and thus lost his Canadian and British citizenship), which he wrote about in . He wrote both fiction and non-fiction books, in both Japanese and in English. His subjects included
whaling Whaling is the process of hunting of whales for their usable products such as meat and blubber, which can be turned into a type of oil that became increasingly important in the Industrial Revolution. It was practiced as an organized industry ...
(for which he went on a trip on a whaling vessel), the environment, martial arts and children's fiction. His books have been translated between English and Japanese, as well as into French, Italian, German, Mongolian, Korean and Chinese. In 2005, he was awarded an
Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...
. Nicol was the chairman of the Afan Woodland Trust. He was diagnosed with cancer in 2016, and died aged 79.


Selected works

*''The White Shaman'' *''Harpoon / Isana'' *''
The Boy Who Saw the Wind is an animated film based on the novel by C. W. Nicol. Directed by Kazuki Ōmori, it was released theatrically in Japan on July 22, 2000. It was also broadcast in Latin America by HBO, France by AK Video, in Spain by HBO and in Russia by MC En ...
'' *''The Raven's Tale'' *''From the Roof of Africa'' *''Moving Zen: Karate as a Way to Gentleness'' *''The White Hippo''


Discography

* ''Sail Down the River'' (1991) * ''The World of Little Twins'' (1992)


See also

*
Hideo Levy is an American-born Japanese language author. Levy was born in California and educated in Taiwan, the US, and Japan. He is one of the first Americans to write modern literature in Japanese, and his work has won the Noma Literary New Face Priz ...
* David Zoppetti


References


External links

*
Old Nic's Notebook: Japan TimesAfan Woodland TrustShort Biography at abcbookworldKo-e Magazine InterviewBBC News: Green mission for karate master
''Outside'' * ttps://web.archive.org/web/20150108083613/http://www.theshotokanway.com/aninterviewwithcwnicolp1.html An Interview with C.W. Nicol: Warrior of Peace {{DEFAULTSORT:Nicol, C.W. 1940 births 2020 deaths Exophonic writers Japanese environmentalists Japanese people of Welsh descent 20th-century Japanese male writers Shotokan practitioners 20th-century Welsh writers Welsh male karateka People who lost Canadian citizenship Naturalized citizens of Japan Members of the Order of the British Empire Nihon University alumni Welsh emigrants to Japan People who lost British citizenship Welsh male writers People from Neath Tokyo University of Science alumni