was the

pen-name A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen na ...

of Yasusuke Gomi, a Japanese novelist active during the

Shōwa period Shōwa may refer to: * Hirohito (1901–1989), the 124th Emperor of Japan, known posthumously as Emperor Shōwa * Showa Corporation, a Japanese suspension and shock manufacturer, affiliated with the Honda keiretsu Japanese eras * Jōwa (Heian ...

of Japan. He is primarily known for his

popular fiction Genre fiction, also known as popular fiction, is a term used in the book-trade for fictional works written with the intent of fitting into a specific literary genre, in order to appeal to readers and fans already familiar with that genre. A num ...

on historical themes.

Life and career

Gomi was born in the

Namba is a district of Osaka, Japan. It is located in Chūō and Naniwa wards. Namba is regarded as the center of so-called ''Minami'' ("South") area of Osaka. Its name is one of variations on the former name of Osaka, '' Naniwa''. Namba is be ...

neighborhood of

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...

. His parents died when he was still a small child, and he was raised by his grandparents, who had a thriving business running local theaters and cinemas. He dropped out of a preparatory school for

Waseda University , abbreviated as , is a private university, private research university in Shinjuku, Tokyo. Founded in 1882 as the ''Tōkyō Senmon Gakkō'' by Ōkuma Shigenobu, the school was formally renamed Waseda University in 1902. The university has numerou ...

, but when faced with danger of conscription in 1942, quickly enrolled into the Literature Department of

Meiji University , abbreviated as Meiji (明治) or Meidai (明大'')'', is a private research university located in Chiyoda City, the heart of Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1881 as Meiji Law School (明治法律学校, ''Meiji Hōritsu Gakkō'') by three Meiji-er ...

. However, in 1943, all university students were conscripted into the

Imperial Japanese Army The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emperor o ...

and Gomi was sent to the China front, and was based at

Nanjing Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...

until the end of the war. During World War II, he met author Yasuda Yojuro, who encouraged him to pursue his interest in history and

historical fiction 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 ty ...

with a career as a writer. After the end of the war, Gomi completed his education at Meiji University, and began writing popular fiction with swordsmen of the

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characteriz ...

as his protagonists. In particular, he wrote many stories using the historical

Yagyū Jūbei Mitsuyoshi was one of the most famous and romanticized of the samurai in Japan's feudal era. Life Very little is known about the actual life of Yagyū Mitsuyoshi as the official records of his life are very sparse. Yagyū Jūbē Mitsuyoshi (born "Shichirō ...

as his hero. He also created a character named ''Aoi Shingo'', a fictional illegitimate son of ''

shōgun , officially , was the title of the military dictators of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, though during part of the Kamakur ...

Tokugawa Yoshimune was the eighth ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan, ruling from 1716 until his abdication in 1745. He was the son of Tokugawa Mitsusada, the grandson of Tokugawa Yorinobu, and the great-grandson of Tokugawa Ieyasu. Lineage Yoshimune ...

, who travels around Japan in disguise, righting wrongs done by the government. Gomi lived in

Mitaka, Tokyo 260px, Inokashira Park in Mitaka is a city in the western portion of Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 190,403, and a population density of 12,000 persons per km². The total area of the city was . Geography Mit ...

from 1947, where famed

sumo is a form of competitive full-contact wrestling where a ''rikishi'' (wrestler) attempts to force his opponent out of a circular ring (''dohyō'') or into touching the ground with any body part other than the soles of his feet (usually by thr ...

wrestler

Minanogawa Tōzō , also known as , was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Tsukuba, Ibaraki. He was the sport's 34th ''Yokozuna (sumo), yokozuna''. Career He was born . He had lost his father in the Russo-Japanese War at the age of two, and worked as a l ...

was a neighbor. He moved to

Kobe Kobe ( , ; officially , ) is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture Japan. With a population around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Tokyo and Yokohama. It is located in Kansai region, whic ...

in 1950, where he was subsequently hospitalized for an overdose of illegal

stimulant Stimulants (also often referred to as psychostimulants or colloquially as uppers) is an overarching term that covers many drugs including those that increase activity of the central nervous system and the body, drugs that are pleasurable and inv ...

s. He returned to Tokyo in 1952. Gomi won the 28th

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 The ...

in 1953. His novel, ''The Secret Scrolls'', was made into a movie ''

Yagyu Secret Scrolls is a 1957 color Japanese film directed by Hiroshi Inagaki. Other English titles include: ''Yagyu Bugeicho – Ninjitsu part 1'', ''Secret Scrolls'', ''Yagyu Secret Scrolls Part I''. It was followed by a sequel in 1958, . Cast * Toshirō Mifun ...

'' starring

Toshirō Mifune was a Japanese actor who appeared in over 150 feature films. He is best known for his 16-film collaboration (1948–1965) with Akira Kurosawa in such works as ''Rashomon'', ''Seven Samurai'', ''The Hidden Fortress'', ''Throne of Blood'', and '' ...

in 1958. In addition to his career as a writer, Gomi was also a noted

music critic ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' defines music criticism as "the intellectual activity of formulating judgments on the value and degree of excellence of individual works of music, or whole groups or genres". In this sense, it is a branch of mus ...

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" also ...

, and also a reviewer and critic of

audio system Sound recording and reproduction is the electrical, mechanical, electronic, or digital inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording te ...

s. He was a man of wide-ranging hobbies, from

mahjong Mahjong or mah-jongg (English pronunciation: ) is a tile-based game that was developed in the 19th century in China and has spread throughout the world since the early 20th century. It is commonly played by four players (with some three-play ...

palmistry Palmistry is the Pseudoscience, pseudoscientific practice of fortune-telling through the study of the Hand#Areas, palm. Also known as palm reading, chiromancy, chirology or cheirology, the practice is found all over the world, with numerous cul ...

, and he left numerous

monograph A monograph is a specialist work of writing (in contrast to reference works) or exhibition on a single subject or an aspect of a subject, often by a single author or artist, and usually on a scholarly subject. In library cataloging, ''monograph ...

s of his hobbies as well. A car buff, Gomi was arrested for drunken driving in May 1961. On January 31, 1964 he was involved in a head-on collision with a truck while driving on

Japan National Route 1 is a major highway on the island of Honshū in Japan. It connects Chūō, Tokyo in the Kantō region with the city of Osaka, Osaka Prefecture in the Kansai region, passing through the Chūbu region en route. It follows the old Tōkaidō west ...

Suzuka, Mie is a city in Mie Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 197,977 in 87,680 households and a population density of 1000 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Geography Suzuka is in northeastern Mie Prefecture, in ...

, which left him hospitalized with internal injuries. On July 24, 1965, while speeding through

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region, the fourth-most populous city and third most populous urban area in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020. Located on the Pacific coast in central Honshu, it is the capital and the most pop ...

, he ran over and killed a 60-year-old woman and her 6-year-old grandchild. He was given a light sentence (18 months in prison, five years probation) partly due to a petition signed by numerous authors including

Kawabata Yasunari was a Japanese novelist and short story writer whose spare, lyrical, subtly shaded prose works won him the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1968, the first Japanese author to receive the award. His works have enjoyed broad international appeal a ...

Shiga Naoya was a Japanese writer active during the Taishō and Shōwa periods of Japan, whose work was distinguished by its lucid, straightforward style and strong autobiographical overtones. Early life Shiga was born in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, ...

and

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 ...

. Gomi died of

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissue (biology), tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from tran ...

in 1980 at the age of 58. His grave is at the temple of

Kenchō-ji Kenchō-ji (建長寺) is a Rinzai Zen temple in Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, which ranks first among Kamakura's so-called Five Great Zen Temples (the ''Kamakura Gozan'') and is the oldest Zen training monastery in Japan.English pamphlet ...

Kamakura, Kanagawa is a city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. Kamakura has an estimated population of 172,929 (1 September 2020) and a population density of 4,359 persons per km² over the total area of . Kamakura was designated as a city on 3 November 1939. Kamak ...

Life and career

See also