春の草 (Haru no Kusa)

Toshimitsu Ishikawa (1914-2001) was a Japanese novelist born in Hita City, Oita Prefecture, as the third son of a lawyer. He studied Japanese literature at Hosei University, graduating in 1940, and began his literary career in the 1940s through editing and publishing before winning the prestigious 25th Akutagawa Prize in 1951 for his work Spring Grass. Initially writing middlebrow novels, he later shifted to erotic novels under the pen name Miyachu Kensaburo following his wife's death in 1967, and also composed the school song for his alma mater, Oita Prefectural Hita High School. Read more →