Kenzaburo Oe, a novelist representing modern Japan and the second Japanese to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, died of old age on the 3rd of this month.

he was 88 years old.

Oe was born in what is now Uchiko Town, Ehime Prefecture, in 1935. After garnering attention for her novel "Strange Job" while still a student at the University of Tokyo, she won the Akutagawa Prize in 1958 for "Breeding."



After that, she won numerous literary awards and led the postwar Japanese literary world as a new generation of writers.



In 1994, he became the second Japanese to win the Nobel Prize for Literature, after Yasunari Kawabata.



He also confronted nuclear weapons and peace issues from the standpoint of a literary person, and "Hiroshima Notes" became a bestseller, depicting the images of A-bomb survivors and doctors he interviewed in Hiroshima.



In addition, he has been active in addressing social issues and has continued to speak out, including being named as a caller for the Article 9 Association, which opposes constitutional revision, and for demonstrations calling for a phase-out of nuclear power.



According to Kodansha, Mr. Oe passed away due to old age before dawn on the 3rd of this month.

he was 88 years old.

Shuntaro Tanikawa "I miss people of the same generation who did a big job"

The poet Shuntaro Tanikawa, who was close to Kenzaburo Oe, said, "I read Oe's works from his debut. Although his writing style was different from mine, he was a very studious person with a lot of knowledge. I'm lonely because he's the same generation as me and he did a big job."

Keiichiro Hirano "I'm really sorry I wanted to talk more"

Keiichiro Hirano, a writer who had a close relationship with Kenzaburo Oe, tweeted, "It's really unfortunate. During the time when Mr. Oe was active, he made his debut as a novelist and became acquainted with Keigai. What I did was an irreplaceable experience. I wanted to talk more," and mourned his death.

"Oe Kenzaburo Bunko" is scheduled to be officially launched this summer

Kenichi Abe, Associate Professor of the Faculty of Letters of the University of Tokyo, who received more than 10,000 handwritten manuscripts donated by Kenzaburo Oe and has been preparing for the establishment of the "Kenzaburo Oe Bunko". was scheduled to be officially launched this summer, but I am very disappointed that I could not show the completed library to Mr. Oe.I feel that I was entrusted with various aspects of literature and postwar society. I want to make a library by making use of it."

Mr. Kenzaburo Oe Talked about the Constitution and Thoughts on Peace

Since he started writing novels in his twenties, Kenzaburo Oe has said that he is a post-war democrat and that the Constitution of Japan underlies his way of thinking.



On October 2015, the day the Nobel Peace Prize was announced, the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II, Mr. Oe gave an NHK interview at his home in Tokyo and spoke about his constitution and his thoughts on peace.



Of these, the reasons for joining the Article 9 Association, which was formed in 2004 to oppose constitutional revision, as a founder were, At that time, I thought that I had to keep it in check. Since then, I've been holding onto that way of thinking until now."



Regarding the fact that Article 9 of the Constitution has been attracting attention from overseas as a candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize, he said, "Our Article 9 of the Constitution is highly regarded, and it is a great honor for Japan to be able to achieve this 70th anniversary of the end of the war. I think it's very encouraging that there are moves from other countries to acknowledge how important it is that there was no war. I find it very encouraging just to have Japan's pacifist constitution among my interests."