| Hiroshi Aramata | |
|---|---|
| Born | July 12, 1947 Tokyo, Japan |
| Occupation | Writer, Translator, Natural Historian, Scholar, Literary critic, Professor |
| Nationality | Japanese |
| Alma mater | Keio University |
| Notable work(s) | Teito Monogatari |
| Notable award(s) | 1987 Nihon SF Taisho Award |
| Spouse(s) | Hinako Sugiura |
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Hiroshi Aramata (荒俣 宏 Aramata Hiroshi, born July 12, 1947) is a Japanese author, translator, and screenplay writer, as well as a specialist in natural history and cartography.
His most popular novel was Teito Monogatari (Tale of the Capitol), which has sold over 3.5 million copies in Japan alone. He also wrote Alexander Senki, a novel which eventually evolved into the anime series known as Reign in the U.S.. He is currently on the selection committee for the Japan Fantasy Novel Award.
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Hiroshi Aramata was born in Tokyo. After finishing high school, he immediately entered Keio University in 1966. During his time in college, he was mentored by acclaimed translator Hirai Te'ichii (who was responsible for providing the Japanese translations of the complete works of Lafcadio Hearn as well as Bram Stoker's Dracula). In 1969, Aramata contributed the first Japanese translation of H.P. Lovecraft's acclaimed novella The Shadow Out of Time to Shonen King magazine.[1] He graduated from the university with a degree in law.
After Aramata earned his master's degree, he worked as a full time computer programmer and part time translator. During this period he also participated in contributing information to the Heibonsha World Encyclopedia. While working on the Encyclopedia, Aramata communicated with anthropologist Komatsu Kazuhiko, who provided Aramata with many sources about the strange and mysterious. Intrigued and excited by the information, Aramata decided that he wanted to write fiction as a way to share such esoteric knowledge with general readers. [2].
Thus as a small side project, he began writing a novel entitled Teito Monogatari that would incorporate elements of real occult phenomena with recognizable history. When the novel was published in 1985, it became a bestseller and earned Aramata a great amount of recognition and prestige,[3]. It was at this point, his career as a novelist truly began.
Since then, Aramata's reputation has grown increasingly popular in Japan as a man renowned for his encyclopedic knowledge on various subjects.[4] His works, both fictional and non-fictional, are numerous and span a wide range of topics from the occult, natural history, literary criticism, art criticism and cartography. He frequently appears on Japanese TV as a special guest. At some point, he also worked as a professor at Nihon University.
He is also an admirer of and close friends with manga artist Shigeru Mizuki. Aramata is one of the producers of the "Oh! Mizuki Shigeru" Exhibition in Tokyo.[5]
In 2003, he was on the selection committee for the 7th Osamu Tezuka Cultural Prize Awards.[6]
In 2010, he served as General Producer of the 400th anniversary festival of Nagoya.[7]