is the pen name of , a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

writer. Inspired by

Yukio Mishima , born , was a Japanese author, poet, playwright, actor, model, Shintoist, nationalist, and founder of the , an unarmed civilian militia. Mishima is considered one of the most important Japanese authors of the 20th century. He was considered fo ...

, who tried to stage a

coup d'état A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...

among Japan Self-Defense Forces then committed suicide after the coup was failed, Asada enlisted in the SDF after finishing his studies. He changed jobs many times while endeavoring to find writing opportunities, submitting his works to literary competitions. In 1991, his novel ''Torarete tamaruka!'' (とられてたまるか!) started his literary career. After writing several

picaresque The picaresque novel ( Spanish: ''picaresca'', from ''pícaro'', for "rogue" or "rascal") is a genre of prose fiction. It depicts the adventures of a roguish, but "appealing hero", usually of low social class, who lives by his wits in a corru ...

novels, his novel ''Metro ni notte'' (地下鉄に乗って) was awarded the

Eiji Yoshikawa was a Japanese historical novelist. Among his best-known novels are revisions of older classics. He was mainly influenced by classics such as '' The Tale of the Heike'', ''Tale of Genji'', ''Water Margin'' and ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms'', ...

Prize for New Writers and made into a 2006 film; a short story collection ''The Stationmaster and other stories'' () was also awarded the

Naoki Prize The Naoki Prize, officially , is a Japanese literary award presented biannually. It was created in 1935 by Kikuchi Kan, then editor of the ''Bungeishunjū'' magazine, and named in memory of novelist Naoki Sanjugo. Sponsored by the Society for t ...

. He writes not only standard fiction and

picaresque novel The picaresque novel ( Spanish: ''picaresca'', from ''pícaro'', for "rogue" or "rascal") is a genre of prose fiction. It depicts the adventures of a roguish, but "appealing hero", usually of low social class, who lives by his wits in a corru ...

s, but also historical and Chinese

historical novels Historical fiction is a literary genre in which the plot takes place in a setting related to the past events, but is fictional. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literature, it can also be applied to other ...

such as ''The Firmament of the Pleiades'' (''Sōkyū no subaru'', 蒼穹の昴). He is seen as an author who has continued the traditional style of Japanese popular fiction.

Career

Asada was born in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

on 13 December 1951. One of his ancestors was a

samurai were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retainers of the '' daimyo'' (the great feudal landholders). They h ...

who belonged to the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia ...

. After graduating from Suginami High School, which is attached to

Chuo University , commonly referred to as or , is a private flagship research university in Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1885 as Igirisu Hōritsu Gakkō (the English Law School), Chuo is one of the oldest and most prestigious institutions in the country. The univer ...

, he enlisted in the Japan Self-Defense Forces because of

Mishima Yukio , born , was a Japanese author, poet, playwright, actor, model, Shintoist, nationalist, and founder of the , an unarmed civilian militia. Mishima is considered one of the most important Japanese authors of the 20th century. He was considered fo ...

, though he initially denied this.
His novels often depict

Yakuza , also known as , are members of transnational organized crime syndicates originating in Japan. The Japanese police and media, by request of the police, call them , while the ''yakuza'' call themselves . The English equivalent for the ter ...

and it has been said that in this respect, they are

autobiographical An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life. It is a form of biography. Definition The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English peri ...

- Asada has admitted that he was once connected to a gang, specifically someone who ran businesses to raise funds for

organised crime Organized crime (or organised crime) is a category of transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally th ...

. Asada was connected to a "Nezumi kou" (a pyramid scheme fraud). However, Asada has denied ever having been an actual member of a gangster organization. There was a period when he lived on money earned from

gambling Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of value ("the stakes") on a random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy are discounted. Gambling thus requires three el ...

, and thus he has written many essays related to horse racing. In 1991, Asada became known for his novel ''Torarete tamaruka!'' (とられてたまるか!). This novel was his first work that passed through a preliminary selection of a literary prize for new writers, so he took his pen name after this novel's protagonist. Because of the picaresque nature of his early works, Asada has often been described as a picaresque writer. However, after winning the

Prize for New Writers for ''Metro ni notte'' (地下鉄に乗って) in 1995, his style and range of writing changed and expanded dramatically. His historical novel ''The Firmament of the Pleiades'' (''Sōkyū no subaru'', 蒼穹の昴), which vividly described the last stages of the

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-spea ...

, was nominated for the Naoki prize of 1996.

Literary style

Asada claims that his ancestor was a

who belonged to the former

(according to the ''

Yomiuri Shinbun The (lit. ''Reading-selling Newspaper'' or ''Selling by Reading Newspaper'') is a Japanese newspaper published in Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka, and other major Japanese cities. It is one of the five major newspapers in Japan; the other four are t ...

'' 16 October 1996). He wrote ''Mibu Gishi Den'' (壬生義士伝) based on the stories of the Shinsen Gumi (新撰組) and ''Ohara meshi mase'' (お腹召しませ). He describes himself as ''Shōsetsu no taishū shokudō'' (小説の大衆食堂) meaning that he is a "cheap public restaurant", delivering any topic that the public wants. He also says that writing is the best hobby for him; consequently he has written more than 70 works in his 14 years of novelist activity, and is still eager to publish new novels. Regarding his modern novels, Asada is nicknamed "

Heisei The is the period of Japanese history corresponding to the reign of Emperor Emeritus Akihito from 8 January 1989 until his abdication on 30 April 2019. The Heisei era started on 8 January 1989, the day after the death of the Emperor Hirohito, ...

no nakase ya" (平成の泣かせ屋), meaning that he is good at moving readers to tears. Asada acknowledges that he is a heavy smoker, and asserted the rights of the smoker in an essay "''Yūki rin-rin ruri no iro''" (勇気凛凛ルリの色). Further, every kind of gambling is his hobby, in addition to the horse racing as mentioned above, so there are essays related to gambling such as "''Oh my Gah!''" (オー・マイ・ガアッ!) and "''

Casino A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live entertai ...

!''" (カッシーノ!).

Works in English translation

* Short story collection **'' The Stationmaster'' (original title: ''Poppoya''), trans. Terry Gallagher (

VIZ Media VIZ Media LLC is an American manga publisher, anime distributor and entertainment company headquartered in San Francisco, California. It was founded in 1986 as VIZ LLC. In 2005, VIZ LLC and ShoPro Entertainment merged to form the current VIZ M ...

, 2009 /

Shueisha (lit. "Gathering of Intellect Publishing Co., Ltd.") is a Japanese company headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. The company was established in 1925 as the entertainment-related publishing division of Japanese publisher Shogakukan. The foll ...

English Edition, 2013) ***''The Stationmaster'' (original title: ''

Poppoya is a 1999 Japanese film directed by Yasuo Furuhata. It was Japan's submission to the 72nd Academy Awards for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, but was not accepted as a nominee. It was chosen as Best Film at the Japan Academy P ...

'') ***''Love Letter'' (original title: ''Rabu retā'') ***''Devil'' (original title: ''Akuma'') ***''In Tsunohazu'' (original title: ''Tsunohazu nite'') ***''Kyara'' (original title: ''Kyara'') ***''The Festival of Lanterns'' (original title: ''Urabon'e'') ***''No-Good Santa'' (original title: ''Rokudenashi no santa'') ***''Invitation from the Orion Cinema'' (original title: ''Orion-za kara no shōtaijō'')

Awards

* 1995 - 16th Yoshikawa Eiji Prize for New Writers for ''Metro ni notte'' (地下鉄に乗って). * 1997 - 16th Japanese adventure fiction association special prize and 117th

for ''The Stationmaster and other stories'' (short story collection). * 2000 - Shibata Renzaburo prize for ''Mibu Gishi Den'' (壬生義士伝, When the Last Sword Is Drawn J'Lit , Publications : When the Last Sword Is Drawn , Books from Japan
) and best dresser prize of Japan. * 2006 - 1st Chuo Koron literature prize for ''Ohara meshi mase'' (お腹召しませ) and 10th

Shiba Ryotaro Shiba may refer to: *Shiba Inu, a breed of dog *Shiba clan,_Japanese_clan_originating_in_the_Sengoku_period *Shiba_Inu_(cryptocurrency).html" ;"title="DF 58 of 80/nowiki>">DF 58 of 80">("Shi ..., Japanese clan originating in the Sengoku period *Shi ...

prize.

Film adaptations

;Japanese films * ''

'' (''The Stationmaster'') * ''

When the Last Sword Is Drawn is a 2002 historical drama film directed by Yōjirō Takita loosely based on real historical events. ''When the Last Sword Is Drawn'' won the Best Film award at the 2004 Japanese Academy Awards, as well as the prizes for Best Actor (Kiichi Nakai) ...

'' ;South Korean film * '' Failan'' (''Love Letter'')

References

External links

J'Lit , Authors : Jiro Asada , Books from Japan
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Asada, Jiro 1951 births Living people 20th-century Japanese novelists 21st-century Japanese novelists Japanese male short story writers Writers from Tokyo Japan Ground Self-Defense Force personnel Japanese racehorse owners and breeders Recipients of the Medal with Purple Ribbon Naoki Prize winners 20th-century Japanese short story writers 21st-century Japanese short story writers 20th-century Japanese male writers 21st-century male writers