Makoto Oda

was a Japanese novelist, peace activist, academic and Time Asian Hero.

Early life and career Oda was born in Osaka in 1932 and graduated from the University of Tokyo's Faculty of Letters program, majoring in classical Greek philosophy and literature. He won a Fulbright Scholarship to Harvard University in 1958.

Writing His travels through Europe and Asia on a budget of a dollar a day formed the basis of his 1961 bestseller Nandemo Mite yaro ("I'll go and see everything"). His first full-length novel, "Amerika" ("America") was published in 1962.

Oda won the Lotus Prize in 1981 of the Afro-Asian Writers' Association for his book Hiroshima.

Oda died of stomach cancer in July 2007, aged 75.