Hitonari Tsuji

Hitonari Tsuji (born October 4, 1959) is a Japanese author, musician, filmmaker, and painter whose novels have sold over ten million copies worldwide and been translated into 20 languages. His most notable works include Pianissimo (1990), which won the Subaru Prize, Kaikyō no Hikari (1997), recipient of the Akutagawa Prize, and Hakubutsu (The White Buddha, 1997), which earned him the prestigious Prix Femina Étranger in 1999 as the first Japanese writer to receive this French award. He debuted as a rock vocalist with the band ECHOS in 1985 and has directed films presented at international festivals like Berlin and Venice.