, real name , was a

Japanese science fiction Science fiction is an important genre of modern Japanese literature that has strongly influenced aspects of contemporary Japanese pop culture, including anime, manga, video games, tokusatsu, and cinema. History Origins Both Japan's histor ...

writer and essayist.

History

Itō was born in Tokyo and graduated from the Department of Imaging Arts and Sciences at

Musashino Art University or is a private university in Kodaira, Western Tokyo, founded in 1962 with roots going back to 1929. It is known as one of the leading art universities in Japan. History In October 1929, was founded. In December 1948, it became , and in ...

. While working as a web designer, he wrote ''

Genocidal Organ is the debut novel of Japanese science fiction writer Project Itoh. It was first published by Hayakawa Publishing in 2007 and later re-printed in 2010 in paperback form. A poll by the yearly SF magazine ''SF ga yomitai'' ranked ''Genocidal Org ...

'' and submitted it to the Komatsu Sakyō Award contest in 2006. Although it did not receive the award, it was published by Hayakawa Publishing in 2007 and was nominated for the

Nihon SF Taisho Award The is a Japanese science fiction award. It has been compared to the Nebula Award as it is given by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of Japan or SFWJ. The Grand Prize is selected from not only Science Fiction novels, but also various SF mo ...

. From 2001, he had to be hospitalized frequently for recurrent cancer. He died at age 34 on March 20, 2009. The video game '' Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker'' and afterwords of the last volume of the manga Aki Sora were dedicated to his memory. He had written a tie-in novel based on the video game '' Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots''. A poll by the yearly science-fiction guidebook ''SF ga Yomitai'' ranked ''Genocidal Organ'' as the number one domestic sci-fi novel of the decade. '' Hayakawa's S-F Magazine'' All-Time Best poll in 2014 ranked ''Harmony'' as the top of the Japanese SF novels. Toh Enjoe's ''Self-Reference ENGINE'' was also a finalist of Komatsu Sakyō Award and published from Hayakawa Shobō in 2007, along with Itoh's ''Genocidal Organ''. Since then they often appeared together at science fiction conventions and interviews, and collaborated in a few works, until Itoh's death. At the press conference after the announcement of Enjoe's

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 ...

in January 2012, Enjoe revealed the plan to complete Itoh's unfinished novel ''The Empire of Corpses''. It was published in August 2012, and received the Special Award of

Noitamina is a Japanese programming block on Fuji TV devoted to anime, originally broadcast every Thursday late night/Friday morning from 00:45 to 1:15. It was launched with the intention of expanding the target audience beyond the typical young male demog ...

, a

Fuji Television JOCX-DTV (channel 8), branded as and colloquially known as CX, is a Japanese television station based in Odaiba, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Owned and operated by the it is the key station of the Fuji News Network (FNN) and the Fuji Network Syst ...

programming block devoted to anime, announced that they would be adapting three of Itoh's novels into animated feature films. All three films would be handled by different studios and directors. ''

'' directed by Shuko Murase at

Manglobe was a Japanese animation studio based in Suginami, Tokyo and active from 2002 to 2015. The studio was formed on February 7, 2002 by Sunrise producers Shinichirō Kobayashi and Takashi Kochiyama. Manglobe filed for bankruptcy in September 2015 a ...

and

Geno Studio is a Japanese animation studio subsidiary of animation production company Twin Engine. Establishment In 2015, previous Fuji TV's Noitamina producer Kōji Yamamoto established the studio after he founded his own production company, Twin Engine ...

, ''

Harmony In music, harmony is the process by which individual sounds are joined together or composed into whole units or compositions. Often, the term harmony refers to simultaneously occurring Audio frequency, frequencies, pitch (music), pitches (timb ...

'' co-directed by

Takashi Nakamura is an accomplished Japanese animator and anime director. He is also a founding member of the Japan Animation Creators Association (JAniCA) labor group. Nakamura's 2001 film '' A Tree of Palme'' was an official selection of the Berlin Film Fest ...

and Michael Arias at

Studio 4°C is a Japanese animation studio founded by Eiko Tanaka and Koji Morimoto in 1986. The name comes from the temperature at which water is most dense. History Studio 4 °C has produced numerous feature films, OVAs, and shorts. Early film titl ...

and ''

The Empire of Corpses is a 2015 Japanese science fiction adventure anime film produced by Wit Studio and directed by Ryoutarou Makihara. The movie is the first of a series of films based on novels written by Project Itoh, followed by ''Harmony'' and '' Genocidal Org ...

'' directed by Ryotaro Makihara at

Wit Studio (stylised as WIT STUDIO) is a Japanese animation studio founded on June 1, 2012, by producers at Production I.G as a subsidiary of IG Port. It is headquartered in Musashino, Tokyo, with Production I.G producer George Wada as president and Tets ...

. All three films also feature theme songs by

Egoist Egoism is a philosophy concerned with the role of the self, or , as the motivation and goal of one's own action. Different theories of egoism encompass a range of disparate ideas and can generally be categorized into descriptive or normative ...

, designs by illustrator redjuice and were to be released in 2015. ''Genocidal Organ'' was postponed indefinitely after the closing of studio Manglobe. In 2017, the film was released after being finished by the newly formed

Hideo Kojima

Itō befriended game designer

Hideo Kojima is a Japanese video game designer, director, producer and writer. He is regarded as an auteur of video games. He developed a strong passion for action/adventure cinema and literature during his childhood and adolescence. In 1986, he was hired ...

at the

Tokyo Game Show , commonly known as TGS, is a video game expo / convention held annually in September in the Makuhari Messe, in Chiba, Japan. It is presented by the Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association (CESA) and Nikkei Business Publications, Inc. T ...

in 1998 shortly after the release of the original ''

Metal Gear Solid is a series of techno-thriller stealth games created by Hideo Kojima. Developed and published by Konami, the first game, '' Metal Gear'', was released in 1987 for MSX home computers. The player often takes control of a special forces operati ...

''. Kojima noted Itō as being one of the only people who understood the themes and morals in his video games, the latter of which would then start to write

fan fiction Fan fiction or fanfiction (also abbreviated to fan fic, fanfic, fic or FF) is fictional writing written in an amateur capacity by fans, unauthorized by, but based on an existing work of fiction. The author uses copyrighted characters, sett ...

based on Kojima's ''

Metal Gear is a series of techno-thriller stealth games created by Hideo Kojima. Developed and published by Konami, the first game, '' Metal Gear'', was released in 1987 for MSX home computers. The player often takes control of a special forces oper ...

'' series. After Itō's diagnosis with cancer, Kojima went against

Konami , is a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Chūō, Tokyo, it also produces and distributes trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, pachinko machines, slot machines, and arcade cabinets. Konami has casin ...

standards and showed Itō footage of '' Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty''. Soon after Itō's recovery, and with the release of '' Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots'', Kojima and Itō collaborated on a novelization tie-in of the game. Itō was hospitalized again in February 2009, and Kojima once again released information regarding the next entry of the series, '' Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker'', to him. Itō, however, died before the release of ''Peace Walker''. The end credits of ''Peace Walker'' features a dedication to Itō. Kojima's 2021 autobiographical book '' The Creative Gene'' also contains an essay dedicated to Itō which discusses Kojima's relationship with him.

Awards

;Japanese Awards * 2007:

nomination for ''Genocidal Organ'' * 2007: S-F Magazine Readers' Award Japanese Short Story for "The Indifference Engine" * 2009: Nihon SF Taisho for ''Harmony'' * 2009:

Seiun Award The is a Japanese speculative fiction award given each year for the best science fiction works and achievements during the previous calendar year. Organized and overseen by , the awards are given at the annual Japan Science Fiction Convention. ...

for ''Harmony'' * 2012: Nihon SF Taisho Award "Special Award" for ''The Empire of Corpses'' (with Toh Enjoe) * 2013: Seiun Award for ''The Empire of Corpses'' (with Toh Enjoe) ;U.S. Awards * 2010: Philip K. Dick Award "Special Citation" for ''Harmony''

Bibliography

Novels

* (2007); English translation: ''

'' (2012) * (2008); English translation: ''Metal Gear Solid: Guns of the Patriots'' (2012) — Novelization of '' Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots'' * (2008); English translation: ''

'' (2010) * (2012) — Co-authored with Toh EnJoe. Published posthumously.
A Partial Translation of The Empire of Corpses
at J'Lit Books from Japan)

Collections of short stories and essays

* (2010) — A collection of short stories as well as essays from his website, published posthumously * (2011) — A collection of short stories, essays, and his blog text, published posthumously * ''The Indifference Engine'' (2012) — A

bunkobon In Japan, are small-format paperback books, designed to be affordable and space saving. The great majority of ''bunkobon'' are A6 (105×148mm or 4.1"×5.8") in size. They are sometimes illustrated and like other Japanese paperbacks usually ...

paperback collection of short fiction works

Movie reviews collections

* (2013) — Movie reviews collection from his web site * (2013) — Movie reviews collection from his web site

Notes

References

* *
J'Lit , Authors : Project (Keikaku) Itoh , Books from Japan

External links

*
Entry
in The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction * {{DEFAULTSORT:Itoh, Project 1974 births 2009 deaths Deaths from cancer in Japan Japanese science fiction writers Web designers