| Kōbō Abe 安部 公房 |
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| Born | March 7, 1924 Kita, Tokyo, Japan |
| Died | January 22, 1993 (aged 68) Tokyo, Japan |
| Occupation | Writer |
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Influences
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Kōbō Abe (安部 公房 Abe Kōbō), pseudonym of Kimifusa Abe (安部 公房 Abe Kimifusa, March 7, 1924 – January 22, 1993) was a Japanese writer, playwright, photographer and inventor. Abe has been often compared to Franz Kafka and Alberto Moravia for his surreal, often nightmarish explorations of individuals in contemporary society and his modernist sensibilities.[1][2]
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Abe was born in Kita, Tokyo and grew up in Mukden (now Shen-yang) in Manchuria. His father was a physician who taught at a local medical college. Abe returned to Japan in 1941 and began studies at Tokyo Imperial University in 1943. He graduated in 1948 with a medical degree, on the condition that he would not practice.
He was first published as a poet in 1947 with Mumei shishu ("Poems of an unknown poet") and as a novelist the following year with Owarishi michi no shirube ni ("The Road Sign at the End of the Street"), which established his reputation. Though he did much work as an avant-garde novelist and playwright, it was not until the publication of The Woman in the Dunes in 1962 that he won widespread international acclaim.
In the 1960s, he collaborated with Japanese director Hiroshi Teshigahara in the film adaptations of The Pitfall, Woman in the Dunes, The Face of Another and The Ruined Map. In 1973, he founded an acting studio in Tokyo, where he trained performers and directed plays. He was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1977.[3]
Among the honors bestowed on him were the Akutagawa Prize in 1951 for The Crime of S. Karuma, the Yomiuri Prize in 1962 for Woman in the Dunes, and the Tanizaki Prize in 1967 for the play Friends. Kenzaburō Ōe stated that Abe deserved the Nobel Prize in Literature, which he himself had won (Abe was nominated multiple times).
| Year | Japanese Title | English Title | Translations available | Notes |
| 1948 | 終りし道の標に Owarishi michi no shirube ni |
At the Guidepost at the End of the Road | ||
| 1954 | 飢餓同盟 Kiga doumei |
Starving Unions | ||
| 1957 | けものたちは故郷をめざす Kemono tachi wa kokyou wo mezasu |
Animals Are Going To Their Home | ||
| 1959 | 第四間氷期 Dai yon kan pyouki |
Inter Ice Age 4 | E. Dale Saunders | |
| 1960 | 石の眼 Ishi no me |
Stony Eyes | ||
| 1962 | 砂の女 Suna no onna |
Woman in the Dunes | E. Dale Saunders | |
| 1964 | 他人の顔 Tanin no kao |
The Face of Another | E. Dale Saunders | |
| 1965 | 榎本武揚 Enomoto takeaki |
Takeaki Enomoto | ||
| 1967 | 燃えつきた地図 Moetsukita chizu |
The Ruined Map | E. Dale Saunders | |
| 1973 | 箱男 Hako otoko |
The Box Man | E. Dale Saunders | |
| 1977 | 密会 Mikkai |
Secret Rendezvous | Juliet Winters Carpenter | |
| 1984 | 方舟さくら丸 Hakobune sakura maru |
The Ark Sakura | Juliet Winters Carpenter | |
| 1991 | カンガルー・ノート Kangaruu noto |
Kangaroo Notebook | Maryellen Toman Mori | |
| 1994 | 飛ぶ男 Tobu otoko |
The Flying Man | Incomplete |
| Year | Japanese Title | English Title | Translations available | Notes |
| 1951 | 壁 Kabe |
The Wall | ||
| 1952 | 飢えた皮膚 Ueta hihu |
The Starving Skin | ||
| 1952 | 闖入者 Chinnyu sha |
Intruders | ||
| 1956 | R62号の発明 R62 gou no hatumei |
Inventions by R62 | ||
| 1964 | 無関係な死 Mukankei na shi |
The Unrelated Death | ||
| 1967 | 人間そっくり Ningen sokkuri |
The Double of Human Being | ||
| 1968 | 夢の逃亡 Yume no toubou |
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| 1975 | 笑う月 Warau tsuki |
The Laughing Moon | ||
| 1993 | Beyond the Curve | Juliet Winters Carpenter |
| Year | Japanese Title | English Title | Translations available | Notes |
| 1955 | 制服 Seifuku |
Uniforms | ||
| 1955 | どれい狩り Dorei gari |
Slave Hunting | ||
| 1955 | 快速船 Kaisoku sen |
The Speedy Ship | ||
| 1958 | 幽霊はここにいる Yuurei wa koko ni iru |
The Ghost Is Here | Donald Keene | Collected in Three Plays by Kobo Abe |
| 1965 | おまえにも罪がある Omae nimo tsumi ga aru |
You are also guilty | ||
| 1967 | 友達 Tomodachi |
Friends | Donald Keene | |
| 1967 | 榎本武揚 Enomoto takeaki |
Takeaki Enomoto | ||
| 1969 | 棒になった男 Bou ni natta otoko |
The Man Who Turned Into A Stick | ||
| 1971 | 未必の故意 Mihitsu no koi |
Involuntary Homicide | Donald Keene | Collected in Three Plays by Kobo Abe |
| 1971 | ガイド・ブック Gaido bukku |
Guide Book | ||
| 1973 | 愛の眼鏡は色ガラス Ai no megane wa iro garasu |
Loving Glasses Are Colored Ones | ||
| 1974 | 緑色のストッキング Midori iro no sutokkingu |
Green Stockings | Donald Keene | Collected in Three Plays by Kobo Abe |
| 1975 | ウエー（新どれい狩り） Uē (Shin dorei gari) |
Ue (Slave Hunting, New Version) | ||
| 1976 | 案内人GUIDE BOOK II Annai nin |
The Guide Man, GUIDE BOOK II | ||
| 1978 | 人さらい Hito sarai |
Kidnap | ||
| 1978 | S・カルマ氏の犯罪 S・Karuma shi no hanzai |
The crime of S. Karuma | ||
| 1979 | 仔象は死んだ Kozou wa shinda |
An Elephant Calf Is Dead |
| Year | Japanese Title | English Title | Translations available | Notes |
| 1947 | 無名詩集 Mumei shishu |
Poems of an unknown poet |