Yoshie Hotta

was a Japanese writer of novels, short stories, poetry and essays, noted for his political consciousness. His most acclaimed works include Hiroba no kodoku (lit. "Solitude in the Public Square", 1951), which was awarded the Akutagawa Prize, and Kage no bubun (Shadow Pieces, 1952).

Biography A graduate from Keio University, Hotta already published poems and essays in the literary journal Hihyō during his student years. He experienced the end of the Pacific War in Shanghai, where he stayed for two years to write for the Chinese Nationalist Party before returning to Japan in 1947. and life in Japan during the early post-war years.

Selected works 1951: Hiroba no kodoku 1952: Kage no bubun (Shadow Pieces) 1952: Kankan 1952: Rekishi 1955: Jikan 1957: Indo de kangaeta koto 1963: Shimpan (Judgment) 1971: Hōjōki shiki 1974–77: Goya 1991–94: Misheru jōkan no hito 1998: Ra Roshufūkō kōshaku densetsu

Awards 1951: Akutagawa Prize for Hiroba no kōdoku 1971: Mainichi Publishing Culture Award for Hōjōki shiki 1977: Jirō Osaragi Prize for Goya 1977: Lotus Prize for Literature 1994: Asahi Prize 1998: Japan Art Academy Prize for Literature

Adaptations Hiroba no kodoku was adapted into a film in 1953, written by Katsuhito Inomata and directed by and starring Shin Saburi.

Together with Shin'ichirō Nakamura and Takehiko Fukunaga, Hotta wrote the original story which was later adapted into the kaiju film Mothra, first published in Asahi Shimbun.