Mitsugu Saotome

Mitsugu Saotome (早乙女貢, Saotome Mitsugu, January 1, 1926 – December 23, 2008) was the pen-name of Kanegae Hideyoshi, a Japanese writer of historical fiction in Shōwa and Heisei period Japan. He won the Yoshikawa Eiji Prize for Literature and the Naoki Prize.

For the aikido teacher, see Mitsugi Saotome.

Kanegae Hideyoshi
BornJanuary 1, 1926
Harbin, Manchuria, China
DiedDecember 23, 2008(2008-12-23) (aged 82)
Kamakura, Kanagawa, Japan
Pen nameMitsugu Saotome
OccupationNovelist
NationalityJapanese
Notable worksKyojin no Ori (1968)
Notable awardsNaoki Prize

Biography

Saotome's grandfather was a samurai of Aizu Domain, and following the defeat of the domain in the Boshin War, immigrated to the United States. However, he later returned to Yokohama and from there to Shanghai. Saotomo was born in Harbin, Manchuria in Northeast China, and thus was raised in Manchukuo; however, following the defeat of Japan in World War II, he was evacuated to Kyushu in 1946. He moved to Tokyo in 1948, and attended Keio University's Literature Department, but left school before graduating. In 1954, the noted author, Yamamoto Shugoro, agreed to become his tutor.

In 1956, together with other like-minded authors, he formed a literary criticism group called Shosetsu Kaigi ("Fiction Conference"), with members supporting each other by reviewing each other's work. One of the products of this collaboration was his novel Kyojin no Ori, about the María Luz Incident, which was awarded the 60th Naoki Prize (1968下).[1]

Saotome claimed that his ancestry from led to his interest in historical matters, and the bulk of his work has been historical fiction set in the Sengoku, Edo or Bakumatsu periods. He was awarded the 23rd Yoshikawa Eiji Prize for Literature (1989) for Aizu Shikon ("The Soul of Aizu Samurai").[2] Many of his works have been adapted into movies or television series.

In 2006, he was elected the chairman of the Japanese P.E.N. After contracting stomach cancer, Saotome died at a hospital in Kamakura, Kanagawa, Japan.

References
  1. "直木賞受賞者一覧" [Naoki Prize Winners List] (in Japanese). 日本文学振興会. Retrieved September 13, 2018.
  2. "吉川英治文学賞過去受賞作" [Yoshikawa Eiji Prize for Literature Past Winners] (in Japanese). Kodansha. Retrieved September 13, 2018.


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