Hirosuke Hamada

was a Japanese children's book writer. His birth name was Hamada Hirosuke (濱田 廣助). He was the first president of the .

Some of his most well-known works are , and , and a series of works known as .

Together with and Mimei Ogawa, he is considered one of the "Three Sacred Treasures of Youth Literature" in Japan.

Life and career Hamada was born into a rural household in Takahata, Higashiokitama District, Yamagata Prefecture. and he went on to write several novels. In 1917, “” won the first prize for a new fairy tale in the “Osaka Asahi Shinbun”, and he began to publish stories for children for the children's magazine “Ryōyū (良友)”. The following year, Kosuke received the Kitamura-Torutani Award for “Dokyoshishi,” and eventually began to aspire to become a children's story writer (during this period, he declined Miekichi Suzuki's invitation to join “Akai Tori”).

In 1921, he moved to Jitsugyo no Nihon sha, appointed by Tōson Shimazaki and edited Yōnen no tomo (幼年之友) magazine. In the same year, he published his first collection of fairy tales, "The Starling's Dream". After he left his job in 1923 due to the Great Kanto Earthquake, he continued to publish many fairy tales in the magazine. In 1925, he founded the Waseda Fairy Tale Society (早大童話会). In 1928, he got married.

In 1940, he received the Japan Cultural Association Children's Culture Award. In 1942, he received the Noma Literary Encouragement Award.

He received the Sankei Children's Publishing Culture Award in 1957 and 1961. In 1972, he was honored as an honorary citizen of Takahata, and a "memorial monument" was erected in front of the town hall.

In 1973, he died of prostate cancer at his home in Den-en-chofu, Ōta Ward, Tokyo.