was an influential and popular novelist of post-

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Japan.

Education, early career, and family

Born at Daikancho 82,

Hirosaki is a city located in western Aomori Prefecture, Japan. On 1 April 2020, the city had an estimated population of 168,739 in 71,716 households, and a population density of . The total area of the city is . Hirosaki developed as a castle town fo ...

Aomori Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan in the Tōhoku region. The prefecture's capital, largest city, and namesake is the city of Aomori. Aomori is the northernmost prefecture on Japan's main island, Honshu, and is bordered by the Pacific Ocean to the east, ...

, Ishizaka went to Hirosaki Middle School in 1913 and then to

Keio University , mottoeng = The pen is mightier than the sword , type = Private research coeducational higher education institution , established = 1858 , founder = Yukichi Fukuzawa , endowmen ...

in 1920. Upon graduating, he took a position at Hirosaki Women's High School. Later, he became a teacher at Akita Women's High School. From 1929 to 1938 he taught at Yokote Junior High School. In 1939, he moved to

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

, and in 1940, during

, he was a news correspondent in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. One of his granddaughters was Tomi Pierce (1953-2010), a writer and later producer of video games including

Prince of Persia ''Prince of Persia'' is a video game franchise created by Jordan Mechner. It is built around a series of action-adventure games focused on various incarnations of the eponymous Prince, set in ancient and medieval Persia. The first two games i ...

and

The Last Express ''The Last Express'' is an adventure video game designed by Jordan Mechner and published by Broderbund in 1997 for PC. Players take on the role of an American who accepts an invite by a friend to join them on the Orient Express, days before the s ...

(admired for its story-telling), with

Jordan Mechner Jordan Mechner (born June 4, 1964) is an American video game designer, author, screenwriter, and filmmaker. He is best known for designing and programming the Broderbund Apple II games ''Karateka'' and '' Prince of Persia'' in the 1980s, the la ...

; she also worked with her husband Doug Carlston, founder of

Broderbund Broderbund Software, Inc. (stylized as Brøderbund) was an American maker of video games, educational software, and productivity tools. Broderbund is best known for the 8-bit video game hits ''Choplifter'', ''Lode Runner'', ''Karateka'', and '' ...

. Another granddaughter, Tomi's sister

Naomi Pierce Naomi E. Pierce (born 1954) is the Hessel Professor of Biology at Harvard University and a world authority on butterflies. Pierce is the university's Curator of Lepidoptera, a position once held by Vladimir Nabokov. Pierce was a Fulbright Post ...

, is an authority on butterflies and a professor at Harvard University.

Writing career

His novel ''Blue Mountain Range'' (青い山脈 ''Aoi sanmyaku'') helped introduce the concept of the "New Japan" - a postwar culture that could look forward to a new future. While widely popular in Japan, to the point that some of his stories were made into multiple movies, only a small portion of his writings have been translated and published in English.

Writings

* "Go to See a Sea" published in

Mita Bungaku ''Mita Bungaku'' (三田文学) is a Japanese literary magazine established in 1910 at Keio University that published early works by young Japanese authors such as Yōjirō Ishizaka, Kyōka Izumi, Hakushū Kitahara, Jun'ichirō Tanizaki,Dawn to ...

magazine (1927) * Wakai Hito published in Mita Bungaku magazine (1933) * Wakai hito (1937) (novel) * Doku-ganryu masamune (1942) (novel) * '' Blue Mountain Range'' (青い山脈 Aoi sanmyaku) (1947) (novel) ** film adaptation: 青い山脈 Aoi sanmyaku (1949 film) (1949) ** film adaptation: 續青い山脈 Zoku aoi sanmyaku (1949) ** film adaptation: 青い山脈新子の巻 Aoi sanmyaku Shinko no maki (1957) ** film adaptation: 続青い山脈　雪子の巻 Zoku Aoi sanmyaku Yukiko no maki (1957) ** film adaptation: 青い山脈 Aoi sanmyaku (1963 film) (1963) ** film adaptation: 青い山脈 Aoi sanmyaku (1975 film) (1975) ** film adaptation: 青い山脈'88 Aoi sanmyaku '88 (1988) * Ishinaka sensei gyojoki (1950) (story) * Wakai hito (1952) (novel) * Kuchizuke, III: Onna doshi (1955) (story) * Nikui mono (1957) (story) * Hi no ataru sakamichi (1958) (novel) * Wakai musumetachi (1958) (story) * Suzukake no sanpomichi (1959) (novel) * Aruhi watashi wa (1959) (novel) * Kiri no naka no shojo (1959) * Kawano hotoride (1962) (story) * Izuko e (1966) (story) * Wakai musume ga ippai (1966) (story) * Ishinaka sensei gyojoki (1966) (story) * Hi no ataru sakamichi (1967) (novel) ** Film adaptation: ''

A Slope in the Sun aka ''A Slope in the Sun'' is a 1958 black-and-white Japanese film drama directed by Tomotaka Tasaka.日活アクションの華麗な世界：1954-1971 第四章言語のユートピア-裕次郎の青春ドラマの意味 2「一緒にいるた ...

'' (1958) was directed by

Tomotaka Tasaka was a Japanese film director. Career Born in Hiroshima Prefecture, he began working at Nikkatsu's Kyoto studio in 1924 and eventually came to prominence for a series of realist, humanist films made at Nikkatsu's Tamagawa studio in the late 193 ...

. * Dare no isu? (1968) (novel) ** Film adaptation: Dare no isu? (1968) IMDB: Dare no isu?
/ref> * Hi no ataru sakamichi (1975) (novel) * Aitsu to watashi (1976) (novel) * Wakai hito (1977) (novel)

References

External links

* IMDB listing for Yojiro Ishizaka https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0411151/ * Biography https://web.archive.org/20070616081122/http://www.media-akita.or.jp/akita-pioneers/ishizaka1E.html * Key dates in Ishizaka's life https://web.archive.org/20070616081122/http://www.media-akita.or.jp/akita-pioneers/ishizaka2E.html * Yojiro Ishizaka Memorial Hall https://web.archive.org/web/20070616081122/http://www.media-akita.or.jp/akita-pioneers/ishizaka2E.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Ishizaka, Yojiro Japanese male short story writers People from Hirosaki 1900 births 1986 deaths 20th-century Japanese novelists 20th-century Japanese short story writers 20th-century Japanese male writers

Education, early career, and family

Writing career

Writings

See also

References

External links