ARTIST DETAILS

Ibuse Masuji (1898-1993) was born in Kamo, Hiroshima Prefecture. He majored in French at Waseda University and joined the School of Fine Arts to pursue painting. His first story, "Salamander," was published in 1923 when Ibuse was still a student. By the early 1930s, his eloquent use of dialect and unique prose style established him as one of the leading figures of the Japanese literary world. In the years since 1938, he has been awarded almost every literary prize in Japan, including the Naoki Prize for “John Manjirou, the Cast-Away: his Life and Adventure”. For “Black Rain” (1966), Ibuse garnered international acclaim and gained several awards including the Noma Prize and the Order of Cultural Merit, the highest honor that can be bestowed upon a Japanese author.