Abstract

The 40-year-old protagonist, who has lost his family and his company, embarks on a deadly journey to a hospital where a genius heart surgeon is known to save the life of his mother, who suffers from a heart disease. This moving story, which has sold more than 500,000 copies, depicts the bond between a parent and child, and the sad love story between a man and a woman.

Author’s Information

Born in Tokyo in 1951, he won the 16th Yoshikawa Eiji Prize for New Writers in 1995 for "Riding the Metro. He won the 117th Naoki Prize in 1997 for "Poppoya", the 13th Shibata Renzaburo Prize in 2000 for "Mibugishiden", the 1st Chuo Koron Literary Award and the 10th Ryotaro Shiba Award in 2006 for "Ohara Meshimase", the 42nd Yoshikawa Eiji Literary Award in 2008 for "Nakahara no Niji", the 64th Mainichi Publishing Culture Award in 2010 for "Owarazaru Natsu", the 43rd Osaragi Jiro Award in 2016 for "Homecoming. He was also awarded the Medal with Purple Ribbon in 2015 and the 67th Kikuchi Kan Prize in 2019 for his vigorous writing activities and achievements. His other books include "Prison Hotel," "Tengirimatsu: Yami Gatari," "Sokyu no Subaru" series, "Possessed God," "Akaneko Ibun," "Ichiro," "Kamizasu Yama no Monogatari," "Black or White," "Jennifer in My Heart," "Omokage," "The Great Wall," "Daimyo Tosan," "Runin Dochu-ki" and many others. He is also the 16th President of the Japan Pen Club, a position he has held since 2011.