Sakyo Komatsu

was a Japanese science fiction writer and screenwriter. He was one of the most well known and highly regarded science fiction writers in Japan.

Early life Born Minoru "Sakyo" Komatsu in Osaka, he was a graduate of Kyoto University where he studied Italian literature. After graduating, he worked at various jobs, including as a magazine reporter and a writer for stand-up comedy acts.

Career Komatsu's writing career began in the 1960s. Reading Kōbō Abe and Italian classics made Komatsu feel modern literature and science fiction are the same.

In 1961, he submitted for the 1st Scientific-fiction Contest of Hayakawa's SF Magazine: "Peace on Earth" was a short story in which World War II does not end in 1945 and a young man prepares to defend Japan against the Allied invasion. Komatsu received an honourable mention and 5000 yen.

He won the same contest the following year with the story, "Memoirs of an Eccentric Time Traveller". His first novel, The Japanese Apache, was published two years later and sold 50,000 copies.

In the West he is best known for the novels Japan Sinks (1973) and Sayonara Jupiter (1982). Both were adapted to film, Submersion of Japan (1973) and Bye Bye Jupiter (1984). The story "The Savage Mouth" was translated by Judith Merril and has been anthologized.

At the time of publication, his apocalyptic vision of a sunk Japan wiped out by shifts incurred through geographic stress Komatsu was one of two Author Guests of Honor at Nippon 2007, the 65th World Science Fiction Convention in 2007 in Yokohama, Japan. This was the first Worldcon to be held in Asia.

With Shin'ichi Hoshi and Yasutaka Tsutsui, Komatsu was considered one of the masters of Japanese science fiction. Five days before his death, his quarterly publication, Sakyo Komatsu Magazine, released an issue featuring an article on his thoughts about the 2011 tsunami. In the article, Komatsu expressed hope that his country would evolve after the catastrophe. "I had thought I wouldn't mind dying any day ... but now I'm feeling like living a little bit longer and seeing how Japan will go on hereafter," he wrote.

Works in English translation Novels Japan Sinks Virus: The Day of Resurrection (Viz Media, 2012)

Short stories "The Savage Mouth" The Best Japanese Science Fiction Stories, Dembner Books, 1989 / Barricade Books, 1997 Speculative Japan, Kurodahan Press, 2007 "Take Your Choice" (The Best Japanese Science Fiction Stories, Dembner Books, 1989 / Barricade Books, 1997) "The Kudan's Mother" (Kaiki: Uncanny Tales from Japan, Volume 2: Country Delights, Kurodahan Press, 2010)

Works A complete works collection is being published in on-demand-print format by Jōsai Kokusai Daigaku Shuppankai.

Novels (1964) (1964); English translation: Virus: The Day of Resurrection (2012) (1965) (1965) (1966) (1966) (1969) (1972) (1973); English translation (abridged): Japan Sinks (1976) (1977) (1977) (1977) (1981) (1982) (1988) (1985) (1987, 2000) (unfinished) (2006) (co-written with Kōshū Tani)

Short story collections

(1963) (1964) (1965) (1967) (1967) (1968) (1968) (1973)

Manga Maboroshi no Komatsu Sakyō Mori Minoru Manga Zenshū (2002)

Adaptations

Theatrical film Submersion of Japan (1973), based on Japan Sinks ESPY (1974) Virus (1980) Bye-Bye Jupiter (1984) Tokyo Blackout (1987), based on Shuto shōshitsu Sinking of Japan (2006), based on Japan Sinks, remake of Tidal Wave

Television Uchūjin Pipi (1965, NHK) Kūchūtoshi 008 (1969, NHK) — Science fiction Marionette drama Saru no Gundan (1974, TBS) — Science fiction Tokusatsu drama Nihon Chinbotsu (1974, TBS) — Television version of film Komatsu Sakyō Anime Gekijō (Sakyo Komatsu's Animation Theater) (1989) Japan Sinks: 2020 — Netflix anime adaptation (2020) Japan Sinks: People of Hope — TBS live-action series adaptation (2021)