Michael Gallagher is an author and translator of Japanese literature

Japanese literature

Early works of Japanese literature were heavily influenced by cultural contact with China and Chinese literature, often written in Classical Chinese. Indian literature also had an influence through the diffusion of Buddhism in Japan...

. His translation of Yukio Mishima

Yukio Mishima

was the pen name of , a Japanese author, poet, playwright, actor and film director, also remembered for his ritual suicide by seppuku after a failed coup d'état...

's Spring Snow

Spring Snow

is a 1966 novel by Yukio Mishima, the first in his Sea of Fertility tetralogy. Mishima did extensive research, including visits to Enshō-ji in Nara, to prepare for the novel.-Plot:...

was a finalist for the National Book Award

National Book Award

The National Book Awards are a set of American literary awards. Started in 1950, the Awards are presented annually to American authors for literature published in the current year. In 1989 the National Book Foundation, a nonprofit organization which now oversees and manages the National Book...

 in 1973, while his nonfiction work Laws of Heaven was the winner of the Alpha Sigma Nu

Alpha Sigma Nu

Alpha Sigma Nu was founded at Marquette University in 1915 by John Danihy, S.J., Dean of Journalism. In his travels and reading, Father Danihy had encountered and admired honor societies...

 Jesuit Book Award in Theology. As a Jesuit

Society of Jesus

The Society of Jesus is a Catholic male religious order that follows the teachings of the Catholic Church. The members are called Jesuits, and are also known colloquially as "God's Army" and as "The Company," these being references to founder Ignatius of Loyola's military background and a...

 scholastic, he spent three years teaching English at St. Xavier High School in Cincinnati, Ohio

Cincinnati, Ohio

Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...

, where he directed several plays, including The Teahouse of the August Moon

The Teahouse of the August Moon (play)

The Teahouse of the August Moon is a 1953 play written by John Patrick adapted from the 1951 novel by Vern Sneider. It was later adapted for film in 1956, and the 1970 Broadway musical, Lovely Ladies, Kind Gentlemen.-Plot summary:...

. He left the Jesuit order and served briefly as a paratrooper

Paratrooper

Paratroopers are soldiers trained in parachuting and generally operate as part of an airborne force.Paratroopers are used for tactical advantage as they can be inserted into the battlefield from the air, thereby allowing them to be positioned in areas not accessible by land...

 in Korea

Korean War

The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...

.

Translations

• Japan Sinks by Sakyo Komatsu
  Sakyo Komatsu
  was a Japanese science fiction writer and screenwriter. He was one of the most well known and highly regarded science fiction writers in Japan.-Early life:...
  
  
• The Sea and Poison
  The Sea and Poison
  is a 1986 Japanese film directed by Kei Kumai and based on a novel by Shusaku Endo.-Cast:* Eiji Okuda as Suguro* Ken Watanabe as Toda* Takahiro Tamura as Professor Hashimoto* Kyôko Kishida as Ohba, Head Nurse* Mikio Narita as Shibata* Shigeru Kôyama as Gondo...
  
  by Shusaku Endo
  Shusaku Endo
  Shūsaku Endō was a 20th-century Japanese author who wrote from the unusual perspective of being both Japanese and Catholic...
  
  
• Spring Snow
  Spring Snow
  is a 1966 novel by Yukio Mishima, the first in his Sea of Fertility tetralogy. Mishima did extensive research, including visits to Enshō-ji in Nara, to prepare for the novel.-Plot:...
  
  by Yukio Mishima
  Yukio Mishima
  was the pen name of , a Japanese author, poet, playwright, actor and film director, also remembered for his ritual suicide by seppuku after a failed coup d'état...
  
  
• Runaway Horses
  Runaway Horses
  is a 1969 novel by Yukio Mishima, the second in his Sea of Fertility tetralogy. Mishima did much research to prepare for this novel, including visiting locations recorded in the book and searching for information on the Shimpūren Rebellion .-Plot:Set between June 1932 and December 1933, it tells...
  
  by Yukio Mishima
  Yukio Mishima
  was the pen name of , a Japanese author, poet, playwright, actor and film director, also remembered for his ritual suicide by seppuku after a failed coup d'état...
  
  
• The Pornographers
  The Pornographers
  The Pornographers is a 1966 Japanese film directed by Shohei Imamura and based on a novel of the same name by Akiyuki Nosaka. Its original Japanese title is Erogotoshitachi yori Jinruigaku nyumon , which means 'An introduction to anthropology through the pornographers'. It tells the story of porn...
  
  by Nozaka Akiyuki

Books

• Dust and Gingko Leaves (published in Japanese translation by Kodansha
  Kodansha
  , the largest Japanese publisher, produces the manga magazines Nakayoshi, Afternoon, Evening, and Weekly Shonen Magazine, as well as more literary magazines such as Gunzō, Shūkan Gendai, and the Japanese dictionary Nihongo Daijiten. The company has its headquarters in Bunkyō, Tokyo...
  
  )
• Laws of Heaven (1992)