Kōbō Abe

In this Japanese name, the family name is Abe.

Kōbō Abe (安部公房, Abe Kōbō, March 7, 1924–January 22, 1993) was a Japanese writer. Abe's birth name was Abe Kimifusa (安部公房, Kimifusa Abe). His most notable work include The Woman in the Dunes, The Face of Another, and The Box Man. E. Dale Saunders translated these works into English. The Woman in the Dunes was made into a 1964 award-winning movie by Hiroshi Teshigahara.

Kōbō Abe
Abe in 1954
Native name	安部 公房
Born	Abe Kimifusa (安部 公房) (1924-03-07)March 7, 1924 Kita, Tokyo, Japan
Died	January 22, 1993(1993-01-22) (aged 68) Tokyo, Japan
Occupation	Writer
Language	Japanese
Education	Seijo High School Tokyo Imperial University
Genre	Absurdist, surrealism
Literary movement	Modernism
Notable works	The Woman in the Dunes The Face of Another The Box Man
Notable awards	Akutagawa Prize Yomiuri Prize Tanizaki Prize
Spouse	Machi Abe
Children	Neri Abe

Early life

He was born in Kita, Tokyo, Japan and grew up in Mukden (Shenyang), Manchuria. He studied at Seijo High School before returning to Manchuria. Abe later studied medicine at the Tokyo Imperial University (University of Tokyo). There, he began writing novellas and short stories.

Career

His first poem that was published was in the poem magazine Mumei-shishū ("Poems of an Unknown") in 1947. His first published novel was Owarishi michi no shirube ni ("The Road Sign at the End of the Street") in 1948. He won the Akutagawa Prize in 1951 for the short story collection The Crime of S. Karuma.

Abe's first internationally known work was The Woman in the Dunes. This was a novel he published in 1962. The novel won the Yomiuri Prize that same year. A movie based on the novel by Hiroshi Teshigahara was made in 1964.

His next award-winning work was Friends. This was a play published in 1967. It won the Tanizaki Prize the same year.

Death

Abe died on January 22, 1993 due to heart failure in Tokyo after a short illness.