Yojiro Ishizaka

Yōjirō Ishizaka (石坂 洋次郎, Ishizaka Yōjirō, July 25, 1900—October 7, 1986) was an influential and popular novelist of post-World War II Japan. Born at Daikancho 82, Hirosaki, Aomori Prefecture, Ishizaka went to Hirosaki Middle School in 1913 and then to Keio University in 1920. On graduating, he took a position at Hirosaki Women's High School. Later, he became a teacher at Akita Women's High School. From 1929 to 1938 he taught at Yokote Junior High... more

Yōjirō Ishizaka (石坂 洋次郎, Ishizaka Yōjirō, July 25, 1900—October 7, 1986) was an influential and popular novelist of post-World War II Japan. Born at Daikancho 82, Hirosaki, Aomori Prefecture, Ishizaka went to Hirosaki Middle School in 1913 and then to Keio University in 1920. On graduating, he took a position at Hirosaki Women's High School. Later, he became a teacher at Akita Women's High School. From 1929 to 1938 he taught at Yokote Junior High School. In 1939, he moved to Tokyo, and in 1940, during World War II, he was a news correspondent in the Philippines. His novel Blue Mountain Range (青い山脈 Aoi sanmyaku) helped introduce the concept of the "New Japan" - a postwar culture that could look forward to a new future. While widely popular in Japan, to the point that some of his stories were made into multiple movies, only a small portion of his writings have been translated and published in English. less