was a 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 novelist and short-story writer.

Life

Yoshiyuki was born in Okayama

Okayama, Okayama

is the capital city of Okayama Prefecture in the Chūgoku region of Japan.The city was founded on June 1, 1889. As of August 2010, the city has an estimated population of 705,224 and a population density of 893 persons per km². The total area is 789.88 km²....

, the oldest child of author Yoshiyuki Eisuke

Yoshiyuki Eisuke

was a Japanese author.He was born in Okayama prefecture. His son, Yoshiyuki Junnosuke, was also a noted author.- External links :* at Aozora bunko...

, but his family moved to Tokyo

Tokyo

, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...

 when he was 3. He attended Shizuoka High School, where he grew interested in Thomas Mann

Thomas Mann

Thomas Mann was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and 1929 Nobel Prize laureate, known for his series of highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novellas, noted for their insight into the psychology of the artist and the intellectual...

's stories, and in 1945 entered the University of Tokyo

University of Tokyo

, abbreviated as , is a major research university located in Tokyo, Japan. The University has 10 faculties with a total of around 30,000 students, 2,100 of whom are foreign. Its five campuses are in Hongō, Komaba, Kashiwa, Shirokane and Nakano. It is considered to be the most prestigious university...

. He left the university without a degree and began working fulltime as an editor at a weekly scandal magazine, while spending much of his leisure time gambling, drinking, and frequenting prostitutes. Sexuality and prostitution

Prostitution

Prostitution is the act or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is called a prostitute and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms, including a "john". Prostitution is one of...

 would form a consistent theme in his writing.

Works and Awards

Yoshiyuki's first published fiction was Bara Hanbainin (薔薇販売人, The Rose Seller, 1950), followed by the novels Genshoku no Machi (The City of Primary Colors, 1951, revised 1956), Shu-u (驟雨, Sudden Shower, 1954), for which he won the 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...

, and Shofu no Heya (Room of a Whore, 1958). His novel Anshitsu (暗室, The Dark Room, 1969) won the Tanizaki Prize

Tanizaki Prize

The Tanizaki Prize , named in honor of the Japanese novelist Jun'ichirō Tanizaki, is one of Japan's most sought-after literary awards. It was established in 1965 by the publishing company Chūō Kōronsha Inc. to commemorate its 80th anniversary as a publisher...

. Another of his most celebrated works, Yugure Made (夕暮れまで, Until Evening, 1978), took 13 years to write but once published quickly became a best-seller and won the Noma Literary Prize.