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Joh Sasaki

is a Japanese writer and journalist, chiefly known for his historical fiction and mystery novels.

Biography

Joh Sasaki was born in Yubari, Hokkaido, Japan. He spent his early youth in Nakashibetsu City and later moved to Sapporo where he attended Tsukisamu High School. He released his first novel, , in 1979. Sasaki quickly established himself as a writer after winning the All Yomimono New Writers Prize for Tekkihei, tonda, which was also later adapted for the big screen. Today Sasaki is very widely known, and has written numerous works in genres including historical fiction, young adult fiction and police crime fiction, as well as TV crime drama adaptations.

In 2009, Sasaki won Japan's number one literary award, the Naoki Prize, for his work Haikyo ni kou, and also holds many other literary awards. These days Sasaki is actively developing his stories for the stage in addition to directing a children's e-picture book project called Joh's Picture Book Project.

Literary style

Joh Sasaki is well known in Japan as a social entertainment writer. In his novel Mayonaka no tooi kanata (later re-titled to Shinjuku no arifureta yoru), he depicts the underground lifestyles of the Japanese mafia, boat people, and illegal alien workers. In Yoru ni sono na o yobeba, Sasaki portrays a chilling Cold War scene in a mystery set in Otaru, Hokkaido and Berlin, Germany. His police mystery thriller, Utau keikan (later re-titled to Warau keikan) was adapted for the big screen and provides an early setting for his later internationally acclaimed roman-fleuve novel Keikan no chi which was eventually adapted for television. Sasaki's Berlin hikō shimei (English title: Zero Over Berlin) garnered critical acclaim for telling a World War II story from the Japanese perspective; it focuses on a fly-by-night mission involving a Type Zero Fighter (Mitsubishi A6M Zero) secretly making its way from Japan all the way to Berlin at the request of the Luftwaffe. Zero Over Berlin is presently Sasaki's only novel translated into English.

Works in English translation

  • Zero Over Berlin (original title: Berlin Hikō Shirei): Vertical, 2004 (Translated by Hiroko Yoda with Matt Alt).

Awards

Bibliography

Adventure novels

World War II

  • World War II Trilogy Series
  • Berlin Hikō Shirei (Shincho Bunko, 1988., Shincho Bunko, 1993)
  • Manga adaptation by Mochitzuki Mikiya
  • Etorofu Hatsu KinkyÅ«den (Shincho Bunko, 1989., Shincho Bunko, 1994., Futabasa, 2004)
  • TV drama adaptation: Etorofu Harukanari
  • Stockholm no Misshi (Shincho Bunko, 1994., Shincho Bunko, 1997)
  • Washington FÅ«in Kōsaku (Shincho Bunko, 1997., Shincho Bunko, 2000., Bunshu bunko, 2010)

Historical fiction novels

  • Ezochi (Hokkaido) Trilogy Series
  • Goryōkaku Zantōden (ShÅ«eisha Bunko, 1991., ShÅ«eisha Bunko, 1994)
  • Yuki yo Kōya yo (ShÅ«eisha Bunko, 1994., ShÅ«eisha Bunko, 1997)
  • Hokushingun Tōroku (ShÅ«eisha Bunko, 1996., ShÅ«eisha Bunko, 1999)
  • Bakumatsu Trilogy Series
  • Buyōden (Chuokoron-Shinsha, Inc., 2001., Nakakou Bunko, 2003)
  • Kuro Fune (Kadokawa Shoten, 2003., Kadokawa Shoten, 2008)
  • EiryÅ«den (Nikkei Masuta-zu Rensai Mikanko)
  • Shunme (Chuokoron-Shinsha, Inc., 2005., Nakakou Bunko, 2008)

Current works

Police crime fiction

  • Dōkei Series
  • Warau Keikan (Kadokawashunki Jimusho, 2004)
  • Revised: Warau Keikan (Haruki Bunko, 2007)
  • TV drama adaptation: Warau Keikan (2009)
  • Keisatsuchō kara Kita Otoko Kadokawashunki Jimusho, 2006., Haruki bunko, 2008)
  • Keikan no Monshō (Kadokawashunki Jimusho., 2008., Haruki Bunko, 2010)
  • Junsa no KyÅ«jitsu (Kadokawashunki Jimusho., 2009., Haruki Bunko, 2011)
  • TV drama adaptation: Junsa no KyÅ«jitsu: (2011)
  • Mitsubainin (Kadokawashunki Jimusho., 2011)
  • ChÅ«zai Keikan Series
  • Seifuku Sōsa (Shinchō Bunko, 2006., Shinchō Bunko 2009)
  • Bōsetsuken (Shinchō Bunko, 2009)
  • Keikan no Chi (Shinchō Bunko, 2007., Shinchō Bunko, 2010)
  • TV drama adaptation: Keikan no Chi (2009)
  • Haikyo ni Kou (Bungeishunju Ltd., 2009)

Suspense novels

  • Mayonaka no Tooi Kanata (Daiwa shobō, 1984., ShÅ«eisha Bunko, 1987., Tenzan bunko., 1992).
  • Revised: Shinjuku no Arifureta Yoru (Sukora Noberuzu, 1996., Kadokawa bunko, 1997）
  • Movie title: Ware ni Utsu Yōi Ari Ready to Shoot (Fusosha Publishing, 1990)

Young adult fiction and other novels

  • Tekkihei, Tonda (Bungeishunju Ltd., 1980,. Tokuma Shoten Publishing Co., Ltd., 1986,. Bunshun Bunko, 2010)
  • Movie title: Tekkihei, Tonda (starring Junichi Ishida)
  • Itsuka Kaze ga Miteita (CBS Sony, 1985)
  • Revised: Taimu Atakku (ShÅ«eisha Bunko, 1988)
  • Manhattan no Bitoku (ShÅ«eisha Bunko, 1989)
  • Sankusugibingu Mama (Switch Publishing Co., Ltd., 1992,. Shinchosha, 1995., Fusosha Bunko, 2008)
  • Kyō mo Hodō ni Surechigau (Chuokoron-Shinsha, Inc., 1994,. Nakakou bunko, 2000)

Horror novels

  • Shi no Iro no FÅ«in (Tokumanoberuzsu, 1984., Tokuma Shoten Publishing Co., Ltd., 1989)
  • Shiroi Sakurikusha (Tokumanoberusu, 1986., Tokuma Shoten Publishing Co., Ltd., 1991)
  • Kiba no Aru Jikan (Magajinhausu, 1998., Haruki Bunko, 2000)

Other novels

  • Yunitto (Bungeishunju Ltd., 2003., Bunshu Bunko, 2005)
  • TV drama adaptation: Yunitto (2006)
  • Countdown (Mainichi Shinbunsha, 2010)
  • Chisō Shinsa (Bungeishunju, 2012)

Non-fiction

  • Bōkensha kasutoro (ShÅ«eisha Bunko, 2002., ShÅ«eisha Bunko, 2005)
  • Bakushintachi to Gijutsu Rikkoku (ShÅ«eisha Shinsho, 2006)
  • Wa ga YÅ«bari waga Etorofu (Hokkaido Shinbunsha, 2008)

References

External links