https://noumenapedia.net/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Akira_YoshimuraAkira Yoshimura - Revision history2026-10-28T11:18:32ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.44.0https://noumenapedia.net/index.php?title=Akira_Yoshimura&diff=3895&oldid=prevDeleatur yhe: Created page2026-09-06T07:23:22Z<p>Created page</p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Short description|Japanese writer (1927–2006)}}<br />
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2022}}<br />
{{Infobox writer<br />
| image = <br />
| alt = <br />
| caption = <br />
| native_name = 吉村 昭<br />
| native_name_lang = ja<br />
| pen_name = <br />
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1927|5|1}}<br />
| birth_place = <br />
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2006|7|31|1927|5|1}}<br />
| death_place = <br />
| resting_place = <br />
| occupation = Writer<br />
| language = <br />
| citizenship = <br />
| education = <br />
| alma_mater = <br />
| period = <br />
| genre = <!-- or: | genres = --><br />
| subject = <!-- or: | subjects = --><br />
| movement = <br />
| notable_works = ''On Parole'' and ''Shipwrecks''<br />
| spouse = [[Tsumura Setsuko]]<br />
| partner = <br />
| children = <br />
| relatives = <br />
| awards = Yomiuri Prize<br />
| signature = <br />
| signature_alt = <br />
| years_active = <br />
| module = <br />
| website = <!-- {{URL|example.org}} --><br />
}}<br />
<br />
{{nihongo|'''Akira Yoshimura'''|吉村 昭|Yoshimura Akira|extra=May 1, 1927 – July 31, 2006}} was a Japanese writer. Internationally he is best known for his novels ''Shipwrecks'' and ''[[On Parole (novel)|On Parole]]''.<br />
<br />
== Life and work ==<br />
Yoshimura was the president of the Japanese writers' union and a [[International PEN|PEN]] member. He published over 20 novels, of which ''On Parole'' and ''Shipwrecks'' are internationally known and have been translated into several languages. In 1984 he received the [[Yomiuri Prize]] for his novel ''Hagoku'' ({{lang|ja-Hani|破獄}}, ''On Parole'') based on the true story of [[Yoshie Shiratori]].<ref>Richard Bernstein: [https://www.nytimes.com/1996/07/24/books/books-of-the-times-in-old-japan-human-horror-and-nature-s-revenge.html ''In Old Japan, Human Horror and Nature's Revenge''], ''The New York Times'', 24 July 1996.</ref><ref>Emily Gordon: [https://web.archive.org/web/20080307115615/http://archive.salon.com/books/review/2000/03/09/yoshimura/index.html ''on parole''], Salon.com, 9 March 2000 (archived).</ref><br />
<br />
After the [[2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami|2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami]], Yoshimura's nonfiction chronicle of three previous tsunamis on the [[Sanriku Coast|coast of Sanriku]], ''Sanriku Kaigan Otsunami'' received an influx of orders, requiring a reprint of 150,000 copies. Yoshimura's wife and author in her own right, [[Tsumura Setsuko|Setsuko Tsumura]] donated the royalties from the book to the village of [[Tanohata, Iwate|Tanohata]], which was heavily impacted by the tsunami. Tanohata was a favorite place of Yoshimura's to visit and inspired him to begin research on the historical tsunamis of the area.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n4rpDAAAQBAJ&q=Setsuko+Tsumura&pg=PA89|title=Japan after 3/11: Global Perspectives on the Earthquake, Tsunami, and Fukushima Meltdown|last1=Karan|first1=Pradyumna P.|last2=Suganuma|first2=Unryu|date=2016-08-30|publisher=University Press of Kentucky|isbn=9780813167329|language=en}}</ref><br />
<br />
In 2024, [[Mitaka City]] acquired and relocated Yoshimura's former study to establish the Mitaka City Yoshimura Akira Writing Room, a public museum space dedicated to his life and work.<ref>{{Cite web |title=施設案内 {{!}} 公益財団法人 三鷹市スポーツと文化財団 |url=https://mitaka-sportsandculture.or.jp/yoshimura/info/ |access-date=2026-06-02 |website=mitaka-sportsandculture.or.jp |language=ja}}</ref><br />
<br />
==Books (selection)==<br />
* 1966 ''Senkan Musashi'' ({{lang|ja|戦艦武蔵}})<br />
:* English edition: ''Battleship Musashi: The Making and Sinking of the Worlds Biggest Battleship'' (Kodansha USA, 1999)<br />
* 1967 ''Mizu no sōretsu'' ({{lang|ja|水の葬列}})<br />
* 1970 ''Umi no kabe sanriku kaigan ōtsunami'' ({{lang|ja|海の壁 三陸沿岸大津波}})<br />
* 1978 ''Tōi hi no sensō'' ({{lang|ja|遠い日の戦争}})<br />
:* English edition: ''One Man’s Justice'' (Canongate, 2004), {{ISBN|978-1-84195-479-0}}<br />
* 1979 ''Pōtsumasu no hata'' ({{lang|ja|ポーツマスの旗}}) (on the 1905 Japan-Russia [[Treaty of Portsmouth]] negotiation)<br />
:* French edition: ''Les Drapeaux de Portsmouth'' (Éditions Philippe Picquier, 1990)<br />
* 1982 ''Hasen'' ({{lang|ja|破船}})<br />
:* English edition: ''Shipwrecks'' ({{lang|ja-Hani|破船}}, ''Hasen'') (Harvest Books, 1996), {{ISBN|0-15-600835-1}}<br />
* 1983 ''Hagoku'' ({{lang|ja-Hani|破獄}})<br />
* 1988 ''Karishakuhō'' ({{lang|ja|仮釈放}})<br />
:* English edition: ''[[On Parole (novel)|On Parole]]'' (Harvest Books, 2000), {{ISBN|978-0-15-601147-1}}, loosely adapted into a movie as ''[[The Eel (film)|The Eel]]'' <br />
* 1989 ''Yami ni hirameku'' ({{lang|ja|闇にひらめく}})<br />
* 1998 ''Namamugi jiken'' ({{lang|ja|生麦事件}})<br />
* 1999 ''Amerika Hikozō'' ({{lang|ja|アメリカ彦蔵}}) (on [[Joseph Heco]])<br />
:* English edition: ''Storm Rider'' (Harcourt, 2004)<br />
* 2010 ''Shiroi michi'', ({{lang|ja|白い道}}), Iwanami Shoten, 2010, {{ISBN|9784000234771}} (biographical essays, 208 pages)<br />
<br />
==Awards and honors==<br />
* 1966: [[Dazai Osamu Prize]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.chikumashobo.co.jp/dazai/history/|language=japanese|title=宰治賞受賞者一覧|trans-title=Dazai Osamu Prize Winners List|publisher=[[Chikuma Shobō]]|access-date=September 21, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180701194255/http://www.chikumashobo.co.jp/dazai/history/|archive-date=2018-07-01|url-status=live}}</ref><br />
* 1973: [[Kikuchi Kan Prize]]<br />
* 1985: 36th [[Yomiuri Prize]]<ref name=yomiuri>{{cite web|url=https://info.yomiuri.co.jp/contest/clspgl/bungaku.html|language=japanese|title=読売文学賞|trans-title=Yomiuri Prize for Literature|publisher=[[Yomiuri Shimbun]]|access-date=September 21, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180901003703/https://info.yomiuri.co.jp/contest/clspgl/bungaku.html|archive-date=2018-09-01|url-status=live}}</ref><br />
* 1997: [[Japan Art Academy]] member<br />
* 2006: [[Order of the Rising Sun|Order of the Rising Sun, 3rd class ]]<br />
<br />
==References==<br />
{{reflist}}<br />
<br />
==External links==<br />
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20030513104940/http://www.asianreviewofbooks.com/arb/article.php?article=23 Review of ''Shipwrecks'' at asianreviewofbooks.com]<br />
<br />
{{Authority control}}<br />
<br />
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yoshimura, Akira}}<br />
[[Category:1927 births]]<br />
[[Category:2006 deaths]]<br />
[[Category:20th-century Japanese novelists]]<br />
[[Category:20th-century Japanese male novelists]]<br />
[[Category:Gakushuin University alumni]]<br />
[[Category:Kaisei Academy alumni]]<br />
[[Category:Japanese historical novelists]]<br />
[[Category:Presidents of the Japan Writers’ Association]]<br />
[[Category:Recipients of the Order of the Rising Sun, 3rd class]]<br />
[[Category:Writers from Tokyo]]<br />
[[Category:Yomiuri Prize winners]]<br />
<br />
<br />
{{Japan-writer-stub}}</div>Deleatur yhe