Science fiction in Japan
Encyclopedia
Science fiction
in Japan
is an important subgenre of modern Japanese literature
that has strongly influenced aspects of contemporary Japanese pop culture, including anime
, manga
, video games and tokusatsu
.
play a role in the development of its science fiction. Some early Japanese literature, for example, contain elements of proto-science fiction. The early Japanese tale
of "Urashima Tarō
" involves traveling forwards in time
to a distant future, and was first described in the Nihongi
(720). It was about a young fisherman named Urashima Taro who visits an undersea palace and stays there for three days. After returning home to his village, he finds himself three hundred years in the future, where he is long forgotten, his house in ruins, and his family long dead. The 10th century Japanese narrative The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter
may also be considered proto-science fiction. The protagonist of the story, Kaguya-hime
, is a princess from the Moon who is sent to Earth for safety during a celestial war, and is found and raised by a bamboo cutter in Japan. She is later taken back to the Moon by her real extraterrestrial
family. A manuscript illustration depicts a round flying machine similar to a flying saucer
. However, science fiction in the standard sense did not begin until the Meiji Restoration
and the importation of Western ideas.
The first science fiction of any influence to be translated into Japanese were the novels of Jules Verne
. The translation of Le Tour du Monde En Quatre-vingts Jours was published in 1878-1880, followed by his other works with immense popularity.
The word was coined as a translation of "scientific novel" as early as 1886.
Shunrō Oshikawa
is generally considered as the ancestor of Japanese science fiction. His debut work Kaitei Gunkan (Undersea warship), published in 1900, described submarine
s and predicted a coming Russo-Japanese war
.
During the period between the world wars, Japanese science fiction was more influenced by American science fiction. A popular writer of the era was Jūza Unno
, sometimes called "the father of Japanese science fiction." The literary standards of this era, and the previous, tended to be low. Prior to World War II
, Japanese rarely if ever saw science fiction as worthwhile literature. Instead, it was considered a form of trivial literature for children.
Manga
artist Osamu Tezuka
, who debuted in 1946, was a major influence on the later science fiction authors. Lost World (1948), Metropolis (1949), and Kitarubeki sekai (1951) are known as Tezuka's early SF trilogy.
Kōbō Abe
, although not a genre author, wrote works that are within science fiction genre, and he later had close relationship with SF authors.
The era of modern Japan
ese science fiction
began with the influence of paperback
s that the US occupation army brought to Japan after World War II
. The first science fiction magazine
in Japan, , was created in 1954 but was discontinued after only one issue. Several short-lived magazines followed Seiun in the Japanese market, but none experienced great success.
Science fiction in Japan gained popularity in the early 1960s. Both the and the science fiction coterie magazine began publication in this decade. The first Japan SF Convention
was held in 1962.
Notable authors like Sakyo Komatsu
, Yasutaka Tsutsui
, Ryo Hanmura
, Ryu Mitsuse
, Kazumasa Hirai
and Aritsune Toyota debuted at the Hayakawa SF contest. Other authors, such as Taku Mayumura
, Shinichi Hoshi
and Aran Kyodomari, were also published. Though influenced by the West
, their work was distinctively Japanese. For example, Kazumasa Hirai, Aritsune Toyota and Takumi Shibano
wrote novels as well as plots for SF-anime
and SF-manga
, which are some of the most prominent examples of Japanese contributions to the genre of science fiction.
The contributions of excellent translators such as Tetsu Yano
, Masahiro Noda, Hisashi Asakura and Norio Ito introduced English science fiction to readers in Japan, and greatly influenced public opinion of science fiction. SF Magazines first editor, Masami Fukushima
was also an excellent novelist and translator.
. Komatsu's Nihon Chinbotsu (aka Japan Sinks
, 1973) was a best-seller. Uchu Senkan Yamato (aka Space Battleship Yamato
), a work of anime placed in a science fiction setting, was aired, and Star Wars
was screened in Japan in the late 1970s. The change in the nature of the science fiction genre in Japan that resulted from these events is often called "Infiltration and Diffusion" (浸透と拡散 Shinto to Kakusan).
At this time, Hanmura's series and Hirai's Woulf Guy series became prototypes of later Japanese light novel
s through the works of Hideyuki Kikuchi
, Baku Yumemakura
, and Haruka Takachiho
. In addition, new science fiction magazines such as Kisou-Tengai (奇想天外), SF Adventure (SFアドベンチャー) and SF Hoseki (SF宝石) were founded. A number of notable authors debuted in either SF Magazine or one of these new publications: Akira Hori
, Junya Yokota, Koji Tanaka, Masaki Yamada
, Musashi Kanbe
, Azusa Noa
, Chōhei Kanbayashi
, Kōshū Tani
, Mariko Ohara
, Ko Hiura, Hitoshi Kusakami, Motoko Arai
, Baku Yumemakura, Yoshiki Tanaka
and Hiroe Suga
.
In the 1980s, the audio-visual
side of the Japanese science fiction genre continued to develop. Hayao Miyazaki
's Kaze no Tani no Naushika (a.k.a. Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind) and Mamoru Oshi's Urusei Yatsura
II: Beautiful Dreamer were first screened. On TV, real robot
anime series, starting with Mobile Suit Gundam
, were aired, and the science fiction artist group Studio Nue
joined the staff of The Super Dimension Fortress Macross
. Animator
s Hideaki Anno
, Yoshiyuki Sadamoto
, Takami Akai
, and Shinji Higuchi
, who had attracted attention by creating anime that had been exhibited at Daicon III and Daicon IV, established Studio Gainax
.
writers, including Hosuke Nojiri
, Hiroshi Yamamoto, Ryuji Kasamine, and Yuichi Sasamoto
, began writing "light novel
" genre paperback science fiction and fantasy novels, which are primarily marketed to teenagers. This period, during which literary science fiction declined, has been labeled "the
Wintery Age" (冬の時代 Fuyu no Jidai). In the mainstream of science fiction, Yoshiki Tanaka
published Ginga Eiyu Densetsu (a.k.a. Legend of the Galactic Heroes
) series.
The boundary between science fiction novels and light novels was blurred in the 1990s. Although Hiroyuki Morioka
's Seikai no Monshou series is considered to be in the vein of the light novel, the series was published by Hayakawa Shobo as part of the mainstream science fiction world. On the other hand, light novel writers like Sasamoto and Nojiri have also published hard SF novels.
As a continuation of infiltration and diffusion of science fiction into mainstream literature, Kenzaburō Ōe
, who later received Nobel Prize in Literature
, wrote two science fiction novels in 1990-1991. Haruki Murakami
received World Fantasy Award
for Kafka on the Shore
in 2006, and his 2009 novel 1Q84
was a bestseller.
Of those who applied for Komatsu Sakyō Award (and failed) and debuted from J Collection, Tō Enjō, cross-bordering mainstream literature, was shortlisted to Akutagawa Prize
. Keikaku Itō left strong impression before dying of cancer in 2009.
65th World Science Fiction Convention
was jointly held with the 46th Nihon SF Taikai
in Yokohama, Japan, in 2007.
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
is an important subgenre of modern 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...
that has strongly influenced aspects of contemporary Japanese pop culture, including anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
, manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
, video games and tokusatsu
Tokusatsu
is a Japanese term that applies to any live-action film or television drama that usually features superheroes and makes considerable use of special effects ....
.
Origins
Both Japan's history of technology and mythologyJapanese mythology
Japanese mythology is a system of beliefs that embraces Shinto and Buddhist traditions as well as agriculturally based folk religion. The Shinto pantheon comprises innumerable kami...
play a role in the development of its science fiction. Some early Japanese literature, for example, contain elements of proto-science fiction. The early Japanese tale
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...
of "Urashima Tarō
Urashima Taro
is a Japanese legend about a fisherman who rescues a turtle and is rewarded for this with a visit to Ryūgū-jō, the palace of Ryūjin, the Dragon God, under the sea...
" involves traveling forwards in time
Time travel
Time travel is the concept of moving between different points in time in a manner analogous to moving between different points in space. Time travel could hypothetically involve moving backward in time to a moment earlier than the starting point, or forward to the future of that point without the...
to a distant future, and was first described in the Nihongi
Nihon Shoki
The , sometimes translated as The Chronicles of Japan, is the second oldest book of classical Japanese history. It is more elaborate and detailed than the Kojiki, the oldest, and has proven to be an important tool for historians and archaeologists as it includes the most complete extant historical...
(720). It was about a young fisherman named Urashima Taro who visits an undersea palace and stays there for three days. After returning home to his village, he finds himself three hundred years in the future, where he is long forgotten, his house in ruins, and his family long dead. The 10th century Japanese narrative The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter
The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter
, also known as , is a 10th century Japanese folktale. It is considered the oldest extant Japanese narrative and an early example of proto-science fiction....
may also be considered proto-science fiction. The protagonist of the story, Kaguya-hime
Hime
is the Japanese word for princess or a lady of higher birth. Daughters of a monarch are actually referred to by other terms, e.g. , literally king's daughter, even though Hime can be used to address Ōjo....
, is a princess from the Moon who is sent to Earth for safety during a celestial war, and is found and raised by a bamboo cutter in Japan. She is later taken back to the Moon by her real extraterrestrial
Extraterrestrial life
Extraterrestrial life is defined as life that does not originate from Earth...
family. A manuscript illustration depicts a round flying machine similar to a flying saucer
Flying saucer
A flying saucer is a type of unidentified flying object sometimes believed to be of alien origin with a disc or saucer-shaped body, usually described as silver or metallic, occasionally reported as covered with running lights or surrounded with a glowing light, hovering or moving rapidly either...
. However, science fiction in the standard sense did not begin until the Meiji Restoration
Meiji Restoration
The , also known as the Meiji Ishin, Revolution, Reform or Renewal, was a chain of events that restored imperial rule to Japan in 1868...
and the importation of Western ideas.
The first science fiction of any influence to be translated into Japanese were the novels of Jules Verne
Jules Verne
Jules Gabriel Verne was a French author who pioneered the science fiction genre. He is best known for his novels Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea , A Journey to the Center of the Earth , and Around the World in Eighty Days...
. The translation of Le Tour du Monde En Quatre-vingts Jours was published in 1878-1880, followed by his other works with immense popularity.
The word was coined as a translation of "scientific novel" as early as 1886.
Shunrō Oshikawa
Shunro Oshikawa
, was a Japanese author, journalist and editor, best known as a pioneer of science fiction.-Education and early career:While studying law at Tōkyō Senmon Gakkō at the turn of the century, Oshikawa published Kaitō Bōken Kidan: Kaitei Gunkan , the story of an armoured, ram-armed submarine in a...
is generally considered as the ancestor of Japanese science fiction. His debut work Kaitei Gunkan (Undersea warship), published in 1900, described submarine
Submarine
A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...
s and predicted a coming Russo-Japanese war
Russo-Japanese War
The Russo-Japanese War was "the first great war of the 20th century." It grew out of rival imperial ambitions of the Russian Empire and Japanese Empire over Manchuria and Korea...
.
During the period between the world wars, Japanese science fiction was more influenced by American science fiction. A popular writer of the era was Jūza Unno
Unno Juza
was the pen name of Sano Shōichi , the founding father of Japanese science fiction. He was born to a family of medical doctors in Tokushima city. In 1928 he opened his writer’s career with The case of the mysterious death in the electric bath .During the Pacific War he wrote a great number of...
, sometimes called "the father of Japanese science fiction." The literary standards of this era, and the previous, tended to be low. Prior to World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Japanese rarely if ever saw science fiction as worthwhile literature. Instead, it was considered a form of trivial literature for children.
After World War II
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
artist Osamu Tezuka
Osamu Tezuka
was a Japanese cartoonist, manga artist, animator, producer, activist and medical doctor, although he never practiced medicine. Born in Osaka Prefecture, he is best known as the creator of Astro Boy, Kimba the White Lion and Black Jack...
, who debuted in 1946, was a major influence on the later science fiction authors. Lost World (1948), Metropolis (1949), and Kitarubeki sekai (1951) are known as Tezuka's early SF trilogy.
Kōbō Abe
Kobo Abe
, pseudonym of was a Japanese writer, playwright, photographer and inventor. Abe has been often compared to Franz Kafka and Alberto Moravia for his surreal, often nightmarish explorations of individuals in contemporary society and his modernist sensibilities....
, although not a genre author, wrote works that are within science fiction genre, and he later had close relationship with SF authors.
The era of modern Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
began with the influence of paperback
Paperback
Paperback, softback or softcover describe and refer to a book by the nature of its binding. The covers of such books are usually made of paper or paperboard, and are usually held together with glue rather than stitches or staples...
s that the US occupation army brought to Japan after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. The first science fiction magazine
Science fiction magazine
A science fiction magazine is a publication that offers primarily science fiction, either in a hard copy periodical format or on the Internet....
in Japan, , was created in 1954 but was discontinued after only one issue. Several short-lived magazines followed Seiun in the Japanese market, but none experienced great success.
Science fiction in Japan gained popularity in the early 1960s. Both the and the science fiction coterie magazine began publication in this decade. The first Japan SF Convention
Nihon SF Taikai
The is an annual science fiction convention held in Japan. Each of these conventions is officially the , but they are more popularly known by the official nicknames given to them based on their locations, e.g. TOKON or DAICON .Each year the Nihon SF Taikai attracts between 1,000 and 1,500 science...
was held in 1962.
Notable authors like 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:...
, Yasutaka Tsutsui
Yasutaka Tsutsui
is a Japanese novelist, science fiction author, and actor. Along with Shinichi Hoshi and Sakyo Komatsu, he is one of the most famous science fiction writers in Japan. His Yumenokizaka bunkiten won the Tanizaki Prize in 1987. He has also won the 1981 Izumi Kyoka award, the 1989 Kawabata Yasunari...
, Ryo Hanmura
Ryo Hanmura
Ryō Hanmura was a Japanese science fiction, fantasy, and horror author. His name is alternatively transliterated as Ryo Hammura. He won the Naoki Prize for his 1975 novel Amayadori...
, Ryu Mitsuse
Ryu Mitsuse
is a Japanese science fiction writer. In the West he might be best known for manga-related works and the story The Sunset, 2217 A.D. which appeared in Frederik Pohl's Best Science Fiction for 1972.- Biography :...
, Kazumasa Hirai
Kazumasa Hirai (author)
is a Japanese novelist from Yokosuka, Kanagawa. He graduated from Yokosuka Industrial High School and the law department of Chuo University. Hirai is well known for his SF-manga work...
and Aritsune Toyota debuted at the Hayakawa SF contest. Other authors, such as Taku Mayumura
Taku Mayumura
Taku Mayumura is a Japanese science fiction writer who won the Seiun Award for Novel twice. In 2004 his Shiseikan , written in 1974, was translated into English....
, Shinichi Hoshi
Shinichi Hoshi
Shinichi Hoshi was a Japanese novelist and science fiction writer. He is best known for his "short-short" science fiction stories, often no more than three or four pages in length, of which he wrote over 1000...
and Aran Kyodomari, were also published. Though influenced by the West
Western world
The Western world, also known as the West and the Occident , is a term referring to the countries of Western Europe , the countries of the Americas, as well all countries of Northern and Central Europe, Australia and New Zealand...
, their work was distinctively Japanese. For example, Kazumasa Hirai, Aritsune Toyota and Takumi Shibano
Takumi Shibano
was a Japanese science-fiction translator and author. He was a major figure in fandom in Japan and contributed to establishing the Japanese science fiction genre....
wrote novels as well as plots for SF-anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
and SF-manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
, which are some of the most prominent examples of Japanese contributions to the genre of science fiction.
The contributions of excellent translators such as Tetsu Yano
Tetsu Yano
Tetsu Yano was a Japanese science fiction translator and writer. He began to introduce to Japanese readers the works of US science fiction writers in the late 1940s. He was the first Japanese writer of the genre to visit the United States, in 1953...
, Masahiro Noda, Hisashi Asakura and Norio Ito introduced English science fiction to readers in Japan, and greatly influenced public opinion of science fiction. SF Magazines first editor, Masami Fukushima
Masami Fukushima
was a Japanese science fiction editor, author, critic, and translator. As the first chief editor of SF Magazine, he endeavoured to propagate science fiction in Japan and became known as the "Demon of SF". His real name is . He also used the pen name: ....
was also an excellent novelist and translator.
Infiltration and diffusion
Public interest in science fiction had risen notably in Japan by Expo '70Expo '70
was a World's Fair held in Suita, Osaka, Japan between March 15 and September 13, 1970. The theme of the Expo was "Progress and Harmony for Mankind." In Japanese Expo '70 is often referred to as Ōsaka Banpaku...
. Komatsu's Nihon Chinbotsu (aka Japan Sinks
Japan Sinks
is a 2006 Tokusatsu film directed by Shinji Higuchi, and a remake of the 1973 screenplay based on the Komatsu novel. It stars Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, Kou Shibasaki, Etsushi Toyokawa, and Mao Daichi, and was released on July 15, 2006....
, 1973) was a best-seller. Uchu Senkan Yamato (aka Space Battleship Yamato
Space Battleship Yamato
is a Japanese science fiction anime series featuring an eponymous spacecraft. It is also known to English-speaking audiences as Space Cruiser Yamato; an English-dubbed and heavily edited version of the series was broadcast on North American and Australian television as Star Blazers...
), a work of anime placed in a science fiction setting, was aired, and Star Wars
Star Wars
Star Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...
was screened in Japan in the late 1970s. The change in the nature of the science fiction genre in Japan that resulted from these events is often called "Infiltration and Diffusion" (浸透と拡散 Shinto to Kakusan).
At this time, Hanmura's series and Hirai's Woulf Guy series became prototypes of later Japanese light novel
Light novel
A is a style of Japanese novel primarily targeting junior high and high school students . The term "light novel" is a wasei-eigo, or a Japanese term formed from words in the English language. Light novels are often called or for short...
s through the works of Hideyuki Kikuchi
Hideyuki Kikuchi
is a Japanese author famous for his horror novels. His most famous works including the Vampire Hunter D series, Darkside Blues and Wicked City. He has been compared to both Stephen King and H. P. Lovecraft.-Biography:...
, Baku Yumemakura
Baku Yumemakura
is a Japanese science fiction and adventure writer. He is best known for writing Jōgen no Tsuki wo Taberu Shishi , which won both the Seiun Award and the Nihon SF Taisho Award...
, and Haruka Takachiho
Haruka Takachiho
is a Japanese science fiction author and founder of Studio Nue. Takachiho is best known as the creator of Crusher Joe, Dirty Pair and Dirty Pair Flash....
. In addition, new science fiction magazines such as Kisou-Tengai (奇想天外), SF Adventure (SFアドベンチャー) and SF Hoseki (SF宝石) were founded. A number of notable authors debuted in either SF Magazine or one of these new publications: Akira Hori
Akira Hori
Akira Hori is a Japanese science fiction writer. He has been involved in science fiction since high school and has a degree from Osaka University in engineering. He won the first Nihon SF Taisho Award in 1980 and has also won the Seiun Award.-External links:**...
, Junya Yokota, Koji Tanaka, Masaki Yamada
Masaki Yamada
Masaki Yamada is a Japanese science fiction author. He has won the Nihon SF Taisho Award, the Seiun Award three times, and an award for mystery fiction. His first story was in 1974. His novel Aphrodite was translated into English in 2004...
, Musashi Kanbe
Musashi Kanbe
Musashi Kanbe is a Seiun Award winning author for the novel Saikoro Tokkōtai. Musashi Kanbe was also chair of honor at Daicon III in 1981.-Web sources:...
, Azusa Noa
Azusa Noa
is a Japanese science fiction writer and esthetique Yaoi novelist.- Profile :* He writes his name as Noah in Latin letters.* Noah was born in Fukuoka, Fukuoka Prefecture in Japan. He is a son of Japanese mystery writer Eitarō Ishizawa ....
, Chōhei Kanbayashi
Chohei Kanbayashi
is a Japanese science fiction writer.Born in Niigata, Kambayashi graduated Nagaoka National College of Technology. He debuted in 1979 with the short story "Dance with a Fox", which was an honorable mention of the 5th Hayakawa SF Contest. He quickly became fan favorite, and during 1980s and 1990s,...
, Kōshū Tani
Koshu Tani
is an award-winning Japanese science fiction writer. He graduated from the Osaka Institute of Technology, and worked as a volunteer in Nepal and the Philippines...
, Mariko Ohara
Mariko Ohara
is a Japanese science fiction writer. In her teens, she wrote Kirk/Spock fan fiction. She graduated from Seisin University and her writing career began in 1980....
, Ko Hiura, Hitoshi Kusakami, Motoko Arai
Motoko Arai
Motoko Arai is a Japanese science fiction and fantasy writer. Her first novel received an award in 1977 when she was in high school. In 1981 and 1982 she received the Seiun Award for short fiction. She graduated from Rikkyo University in 1983...
, Baku Yumemakura, Yoshiki Tanaka
Yoshiki Tanaka
Dr. Yoshiki Tanaka is a Japanese novelist. He was born in Kumamoto Prefecture and took his doctorate degree in Japanese Language and Literature in the Graduate School of Gakushūin University in Tokyo....
and Hiroe Suga
Hiroe Suga
is a Japanese science fiction and mystery writer. She was first published in 1981. She has won three Seiun Awards – in 1992 and 2001 for best novel of the year, and in 1993 for best short story of the year....
.
In the 1980s, the audio-visual
Audio-visual
The term Audio-Visual may refer to works with both a sound and a visual component, the production or use of such works, or to equipment used to create and present such works...
side of the Japanese science fiction genre continued to develop. Hayao Miyazaki
Hayao Miyazaki
is a Japanese manga artist and prominent film director and animator of many popular anime feature films. Through a career that has spanned nearly fifty years, Miyazaki has attained international acclaim as a maker of animated feature films and, along with Isao Takahata, co-founded Studio Ghibli,...
's Kaze no Tani no Naushika (a.k.a. Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind) and Mamoru Oshi's Urusei Yatsura
Urusei Yatsura
is a comedic manga series written and illustrated by Rumiko Takahashi that premiered in Weekly Shōnen Sunday in 1978 and ran until its conclusion in 1987. Its 374 individual chapters were collected and published in 34 tankōbon volumes. The series tells the story of Ataru Moroboshi, and the alien...
II: Beautiful Dreamer were first screened. On TV, real robot
Real Robot
is a genre of Japanese animation. The genre contains mecha robots that are powered by conventional power sources and weapons explainable by real world science, and that use ranged weapons and speed to survive battle situations....
anime series, starting with Mobile Suit Gundam
Mobile Suit Gundam
is a televised anime series, created by Sunrise. Created and directed by Yoshiyuki Tomino, it premiered in Japan on Nagoya Broadcasting Network on April 7, 1979, and lasted until January 26, 1980, spanning 43 episodes...
, were aired, and the science fiction artist group Studio Nue
Studio Nue
Studio Nue is a Japanese design studio formed in 1972 by Naoyuki Kato, Kenichi Matsuzaki, Kazutaka Miyatake, and Haruka Takachiho...
joined the staff of The Super Dimension Fortress Macross
The Super Dimension Fortress Macross
is an anime television series. According to story creator Shoji Kawamori, it depicts "a love triangle against the backdrop of great battles" during the first Human-alien war....
. Animator
Animator
An animator is an artist who creates multiple images that give an illusion of movement called animation when displayed in rapid sequence; the images are called frames and key frames. Animators can work in a variety of fields including film, television, video games, and the internet. Usually, an...
s Hideaki Anno
Hideaki Anno
is a Japanese animation and film director. Anno is best known for his work on the popular anime series Neon Genesis Evangelion. His style has come to be defined by the touches of postmodernism that he injects into his work, as well as the thorough portrayal of characters' thoughts and emotions,...
, Yoshiyuki Sadamoto
Yoshiyuki Sadamoto
is a Japanese character designer, manga artist, and one of the founding members of the Gainax anime studio. Before the studio was founded under the official name , he served as animator on the second animated project, the Daicon IV opening animation...
, Takami Akai
Takami Akai
is an illustrator, game creator, character designer and animator born on November 21, 1961 in Yonago, Tottori Prefecture, Japan. He was a board member of Gainax, and runs his own company titled NineLives. His wife is Kimiko Higuchi...
, and Shinji Higuchi
Shinji Higuchi
is a storyboard artist and is one of the top special effects wizards in Japan, best known for his work on the Heisei Gamera Trilogy. He works on both anime and tokusatsu projects.-Biography:...
, who had attracted attention by creating anime that had been exhibited at Daicon III and Daicon IV, established Studio Gainax
Gainax
is a Japanese anime studio famous for productions such as Gunbuster, The Wings of Honneamise, Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water, Neon Genesis Evangelion, FLCL and Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann which have gone on to critical acclaim and commercial success, as well as for their association with...
.
Wintery age
Literary science fiction magazines started to disappear in the late 1980s when public attention increasingly switched to audio-visual media. The Hayakawa science fiction contest was also discontinued, removing a major outlet for the work of many writers. A number of science fiction and space operaSpace opera
Space opera is a subgenre of science fiction that emphasizes romantic, often melodramatic adventure, set mainly or entirely in outer space, generally involving conflict between opponents possessing advanced technologies and abilities. The term has no relation to music and it is analogous to "soap...
writers, including Hosuke Nojiri
Hosuke Nojiri
is a Japanese science fiction writer.After a career as a CAD programmer and game designer, he was first published in 1992, the Creguian game novelization....
, Hiroshi Yamamoto, Ryuji Kasamine, and Yuichi Sasamoto
Yuichi Sasamoto
Yūichi Sasamoto is a Japanese science fiction writer who won Seiun Awards for Ariel and also for three non-fiction volumes Passport to the Universe. He also co-wrote with Yoshikazu Yasuhiko the film Venus Wars. His work Miniskirt Uchū Kaizoku will be adapted into an anime television series in...
, began writing "light novel
Light novel
A is a style of Japanese novel primarily targeting junior high and high school students . The term "light novel" is a wasei-eigo, or a Japanese term formed from words in the English language. Light novels are often called or for short...
" genre paperback science fiction and fantasy novels, which are primarily marketed to teenagers. This period, during which literary science fiction declined, has been labeled "the
Wintery Age" (冬の時代 Fuyu no Jidai). In the mainstream of science fiction, Yoshiki Tanaka
Yoshiki Tanaka
Dr. Yoshiki Tanaka is a Japanese novelist. He was born in Kumamoto Prefecture and took his doctorate degree in Japanese Language and Literature in the Graduate School of Gakushūin University in Tokyo....
published Ginga Eiyu Densetsu (a.k.a. Legend of the Galactic Heroes
Legend of the Galactic Heroes
is a series of science fiction novels by Yoshiki Tanaka. An anime adaptation of the novels by Artland ran from 1988 to 2000 as well as a manga based on the novels, with art by Katsumi Michihara...
) series.
The boundary between science fiction novels and light novels was blurred in the 1990s. Although Hiroyuki Morioka
Hiroyuki Morioka
is a Japanese science fiction novelist.- Biography :In 1992, his first novel Yume no ki ga tsugeta nara appeared in Hayakawa Shobo 's SF Magazine...
's Seikai no Monshou series is considered to be in the vein of the light novel, the series was published by Hayakawa Shobo as part of the mainstream science fiction world. On the other hand, light novel writers like Sasamoto and Nojiri have also published hard SF novels.
As a continuation of infiltration and diffusion of science fiction into mainstream literature, Kenzaburō Ōe
Kenzaburo Oe
is a Japanese author and a major figure in contemporary Japanese literature. His works, strongly influenced by French and American literature and literary theory, deal with political, social and philosophical issues including nuclear weapons, social non-conformism and existentialism.Ōe was awarded...
, who later received Nobel Prize in Literature
Nobel Prize in Literature
Since 1901, the Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded annually to an author from any country who has, in the words from the will of Alfred Nobel, produced "in the field of literature the most outstanding work in an ideal direction"...
, wrote two science fiction novels in 1990-1991. Haruki Murakami
Haruki Murakami
is a Japanese writer and translator. His works of fiction and non-fiction have garnered him critical acclaim and numerous awards, including the Franz Kafka Prize and Jerusalem Prize among others.He is considered an important figure in postmodern literature...
received World Fantasy Award
World Fantasy Award
The World Fantasy Awards are annual, international awards given to authors and artists who have demonstrated outstanding achievement in the field of fantasy...
for Kafka on the Shore
Kafka on the Shore
is a 2002 novel by Japanese author Haruki Murakami. John Updike described it as a "real page-turner, as well as an insistently metaphysical mind-bender"...
in 2006, and his 2009 novel 1Q84
1Q84
1Q84 is a novel by Haruki Murakami, first published in three volumes in Japan in 2009–10. The novel quickly became a sensation, with its first printing selling out the day it was released, and reaching sales of one million within a month...
was a bestseller.
The Zeroes
'00s, the first decade of the 21st century, saw a recovery of the market of literary SF. Compared to the overall decline of publishing industry, science fictions were considered solid sales. SFWJ and Tokuma Shoten began Japan SF Budding Writer Award in 1999, and Tokuma started a quarterly magazine SF Japan in 2000. Hayakawa started a new label J Collection in 2002. Kadokawa Haruki Corporation started Komatsu Sakyō Award for new authors in 2000. A new yearly anthology series, edited by Nozomi Ōmori and Sanzō Kusaka, started in 2008 by Tokyo Sogensha.Of those who applied for Komatsu Sakyō Award (and failed) and debuted from J Collection, Tō Enjō, cross-bordering mainstream literature, was shortlisted to Akutagawa Prize
Akutagawa Prize
The is a Japanese literary award presented semi-annually. It was established in 1935 by Kan Kikuchi, then-editor of Bungeishunjū magazine, in memory of author Ryūnosuke Akutagawa...
. Keikaku Itō left strong impression before dying of cancer in 2009.
65th World Science Fiction Convention
65th World Science Fiction Convention
Nippon 2007, the 65th World Science Fiction Convention and the 46th Annual Nihon SF Taikai, was held in Yokohama, Japan from 30 August - 3 September 2007, at the Pacifico Yokohama Convention Center and adjoining hotels. The organising committee was chaired by Hiroaki Inoue...
was jointly held with the 46th Nihon SF Taikai
Nihon SF Taikai
The is an annual science fiction convention held in Japan. Each of these conventions is officially the , but they are more popularly known by the official nicknames given to them based on their locations, e.g. TOKON or DAICON .Each year the Nihon SF Taikai attracts between 1,000 and 1,500 science...
in Yokohama, Japan, in 2007.
Publishers
- Hayakawa Shobo
- Tokyo Sogensha
- Tokuma ShotenTokuma Shotenis a publisher in Japan, that was established in 1954.The company was also the parent company for the film studio Daiei Motion Pictures, bought in 1974, and the record label Tokuma Japan Communications, bought in 1972, until both were sold off when Yasuyoshi Tokuma, who established this company,...
- Kadokawa ShotenKadokawa Shotenis a well-known Japanese publishing company based in Tokyo, Japan. Kadokawa has published both manga novels and magazines, such as Newtype magazine...
- Kurodahan Press
External links
- Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of Japan's official site
- Kurodahan Press A publisher specializing in English translations of Japanese fiction, including science fiction.
- Haikasoru An imprint specializing English translation of Japanese science fiction and fantasy.