Kenji Nakagami
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Kenji Nakagami (中上健次 Nakagami Kenji, August 2, 1946 - August 12, 1992) was a Japanese writer, critic, and poet. Born in the city of Shingū in Wakayama Prefecture, Nakagami was of burakumin ancestry. Many of his works are set in the Kumano region of the Kii Peninsula where he grew up under difficult circumstances. When Nakagami won the Akutagawa Prize in 1975 for The Cape (岬 Misaki), he became the first author born in the post-war period to win this prestigious prize. A number of Nakagami's short stories have been translated into English and other languages, including The Cape and Snakelust (蛇淫 Ja'in). Nakagami died from kidney cancer in 1992 at the age of 46.