is 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. He has won the Noma Literary New Face Prize, the

Izumi Kyōka Prize for Literature Izumi Kyōka Prize for Literature (, ''Izumi Kyōka Bungaku Shō'') is a prize for literature in Japan named for Kyōka Izumi. It was established and started in 1973 to commemorate the 100th year since the birth of Kyōka Izumi. Kanazawa city, wh ...

, the Itō Sei Literature Prize, and the Mainichi Publishing Culture Award. His work has been translated into English.

Biography

While studying Russian at

Tokyo University of Foreign Studies , often referred to as TUFS, is a specialist research university in Fuchū, Tokyo, Japan. TUFS is primarily devoted to foreign language, international affairs and foreign studies. It also features an Asia-African institution. History The Uni ...

, Shimada published a story called ' that was nominated for 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 ...

. The next year he won the 6th Noma Literary New Face Prize for his novel '. ' was published in Japan in 1989, with an English translation by Philip Gabriel following in 1992. In her review for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', Julia Just praised ''Dream Messenger'' as "proof that the Japanese novel is taking some fantastic turns in the hands of a new generation of writers." A 2017 retrospective review by Stephen Mansfield of ''

The Japan Times ''The Japan Times'' is Japan's largest and oldest English-language daily newspaper. It is published by , a subsidiary of News2u Holdings, Inc.. It is headquartered in the in Kioicho, Chiyoda, Tokyo. History ''The Japan Times'' was launched b ...

'' described ''Dream Messenger'' as "existential novel that manages to remain firmly grounded within the parameters of a compelling narrative." The same year that ''Dream Messenger'' was published in English, Shimada won the 20th

for , a parody of

Natsume Sōseki , born , was a Japanese novelist. He is best known around the world for his novels ''Kokoro'', ''Botchan'', ''I Am a Cat'', '' Kusamakura'' and his unfinished work '' Light and Darkness''. He was also a scholar of British literature and writer ...

's novel ''

Kokoro is a novel by the Japanese author Natsume Sōseki. It was first published in 1914 in serial form in the Japanese newspaper ''Asahi Shimbun''. The title translated literally means "heart". The word contains shades of meaning—notions of the he ...

''. Shimada wrote the libretto for

Shigeaki Saegusa Shigeaki Saegusa (, formerly ; ''Saegusa Shigeaki''; born July 8, 1942) is a Japanese composer. Career Saegusa is best known for his opera version '' Chushingura'' of the well-known kabuki epic of the Forty-seven Ronin/Chūshingura with a lib ...

's opera ''

Chūshingura is the title given to fictionalized accounts in Japanese literature, theater, and film that relate to the historical incident involving the forty-seven ''rōnin'' and their mission to avenge the death of their master, Asano Naganori. Including th ...

'', which

Werner Herzog Werner Herzog (; born 5 September 1942) is a German film director, screenwriter, author, actor, and opera director, regarded as a pioneer of New German Cinema. His films often feature ambitious protagonists with impossible dreams, people with u ...

directed in its 1997 Tokyo debut. Shimada directed and performed in his own play Yurariumu (Ulalium) in 1990. His Japanese translation of Steve Erickson's Rubicon Beach appeared in 1991. In 2016 Shimada won the 70th Mainichi Publishing Culture Award for his novel '.

Recognition

* 1984: 6th Noma Literary New Face Prize * 1992: 20th

* 2006: 17th Itō Sei Literature Prize * 2016: 70th Mainichi Publishing Culture Award * 2022:

Medal with Purple Ribbon are medals awarded by the Government of Japan. They are awarded to individuals who have done meritorious deeds and also to those who have achieved excellence in their field of work. The Medals of Honor were established on December 7, 1881, and we ...

Bibliography

* ' ( Kodansha, 1984). ''Music for a Somnambulant Kingdom'' * ' ( Kodansha, 1989). ''Dream Messenger'', trans. Philip Gabriel ( Kodansha, 1992, ) *''Miira ni naru made'' (1990). ''Until I Am a Mummy'' * ''Armadillo'' (

Shinchosha is a publisher founded in 1896 in Japan and headquartered in Yaraichō, Shinjuku, Tokyo. Shinchosha is one of the sponsors of the Japan Fantasy Novel Award. Books * Haruki Murakami: '' Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World'' (19 ...

, 1991), * ' (Fukutake Shoten, 1992, ) *''Jiyū shikei'' (自由死刑) (1999). ''Death by Choice'', trans. Meredith McKinney (Thames River Press, 2013, ) * ', Kodansha, 2015,

References

External links

Masahiko Shimada
at J'Lit Books from Japan

at JLPP (Japanese Literature Publishing Project)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shimada, Masahiko 1961 births 20th-century Japanese novelists 21st-century Japanese novelists Living people International Writing Program alumni Recipients of the Medal with Purple Ribbon