Factbook

A Dynamic Compendium of Interesting Japanese Literary and Publishing Facts

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Creative Writing

Kobo Abe is said to be the Kafka of Japan

[UPDATED: 2-12-2018]

Kobo Abe (1924-1992) is said to be ‘The Kafka of Japan’. He is best known for: The Road Sign at the End of the Street (1948), The Woman in the Dunes (1962), as well as being avant-garde, being expelled from the Japanese Communist Party, and collecting insects.

His novella, The Wall, won the Akutagawa Prize and established his reputation. His best friend was Yukio Mishima (1925-1970) and he was also a friend of Harold Pinter (1930-2008).

He didn’t give many interviews, but an interesting conversation with him is reported in the New York Times under the headline: Japan’s Kafka Goes on the Road, where his experimental theatre group is discussed.

Kobo Abe is said to be the Kafka of Japan Posted March 23rd, 2017 by Richard Nathan

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Both of Japan’s Nobel literature prize-winners now have literary prizes named after them[UPDATED: 2-5-2018]
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Factbook

Kobo Abe is said to be the Kafka of Japan

Honnomushi is Japanese for bookworm and there are hundreds of thousands of them in Japan[UPDATED: 11-8-2018]

Both of Japan’s Nobel literature prize-winners now have literary prizes named after them[UPDATED: 2-5-2018]

David Bowie’s favourite novel by Yukio Mishima, an author he was fascinated by, was The Sailor Who Fell from Grace from the Sea[UPDATED: 2-28-2018]

Japanese libraries still major book buyers[UPDATED: 2-12-2018]

The first Japanese dictionary was published in 682[UPDATED: 2-28-2018]

The first modern Japanese short story was written by Ogai Mori and published in 1890[UPDATED: 3-3-2018]

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