Hiroshi Sakurazaka

is a Japanese author of science fiction and fantasy light novels. He is best known for his novel All You Need Is Kill, which formed the basis of the film Edge of Tomorrow, starring Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt.

Life and career Sakurazaka originally began in a career in IT.

He made his literary debut in 2002 at the second Super Dash Novel Rookie of the Year Award with Mahō tsukai no netto , which was later published in December 2003 under the name Yoku Wakaru Gendai Mahō. This work has subsequently been expanded into a series of light novels and has been made into an anime. In 2004, he was presented the S-F Magazine Readers Award for Best Short Story for "The Saitama Chain Saw Massacre". His 2004 novel All You Need Is Kill received high praise from other authors in Japan and has been published in English by Viz Media.

Sakurazaka has an interest in computers and video games. He is knowledgeable about computer culture, can program in Perl, is able to use specialized text editors such as Meadow, and can typeset in TeX.

He has collaborated with cultural critic Hiroki Azuma on the works and and has written a critique of Yasutaka Tsutsui's novel Dancing Vanity.

Film adaptation Sakurazaka's novel All You Need Is Kill was optioned by Warner Bros. Based upon the story, the screenplay was written by Dante Harper and Joby Harold with a working title We Mortals Are. Originally Brad Pitt was approached to play the lead, but he had conflicts with other films for which Warner wanted him. In October 2011, Tom Cruise began talks for the project to be directed by Doug Liman. In June 2014, the movie premiered with the title Edge of Tomorrow.

Awards 2004: S-F Magazine Readers Award Best Short Story for English translation of this short story was included in the anthology Hanzai Japan (Haikasoru, 2015).