Jun Ishikawa

Jun Ishikawa (1899-1987), born Kiyoshi Ishikawa in Tokyo, Japan, was a prominent modernist Japanese author, translator, and literary critic known for his experimental works challenging realism and his association with the Buraiha (Decadent or "Ruffian") school. His notable works include Fugen (The Bodhisattva, 1936), which won the Akutagawa Prize, Shion Monogatari (Asters, 1956), Yakeato no Iesu (Jesus in the Ruins, 1946), and Edo Bungaku Shoki (1980), recipient of the Yomiuri Literary Prize; he also translated French modernists like André Gide and produced influential essays on Japanese and world literature. A towering figure in Showa-era literature, he earned the Japan Art Academy Award in 1961 for his lifetime achievements and continued writing until his death from lung cancer. Japanese JLPP Profile, New National Theatre