was 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 ...

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire to ...

. He wrote several novels including ''Enrai'' and ''Dogen-Zenji'', about the devout

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

who founded the Soto Sect of

Zen Buddhism Zen ( zh, t=禪, p=Chán; ja, text= 禅, translit=zen; ko, text=선, translit=Seon; vi, text=Thiền) is a school of Mahayana Buddhism that originated in China during the Tang dynasty, known as the Chan School (''Chánzong'' 禪宗), and ...

in 1227. He was also known for his environmental work. In 1995 he founded the Ashio Green Growing Association, a non-profit organization that helps plant trees at the abandoned

Ashio Copper Mine The was a copper mine located in the town of Ashio, Tochigi (now part of the city of Nikkō, Tochigi), in the northern Kantō region of Japan. It was the site of Japan's first major pollution disaster in the 1880s and the scene of the 1907 min ...

Selected works in English

* ''Distant Thunder'' (''Enrai'', 遠雷), Charles E. Tuttle (1999). Translated by Lawrence J. Howell and Hikaru Morimoto * ''Frozen Dreams: Based on a True Story'' (''Hidaka'', 日高), Peter Owen (2012). Translated by Philip Gabriel.

References

External links

Synopsis of ''Frozen Dreams'' (''Hidaka'')
at JLPP (Japanese Literature Publishing Project) {{DEFAULTSORT:Tatematsu, Wahei 1948 births 2010 deaths 20th-century Japanese novelists 21st-century Japanese novelists