Toshihiko Yahagi  (1950–)  was already authoring manga while still in high school, under the pen name of Daddy Goose. His first short fiction came out in a mystery magazine in 1972, and when his first novel, Maiku Hamaa e dengon (A Message for Mike Hammer), was published in 1978, he was hailed as a new talent in the hardboiled genre. Publication that same year of Ringo Kiddo no kyujitsu (Ringo Kid's Holiday), the first volume in a series about the Yokosuka detective Futamura, cemented his reputation. He subsequently broadened his range, authoring manga and both co-directing (with Katsuhiro Otomo) and directing movies. A JA PAN! (Ah, Japan!; 1997), a lengthy masterpiece depicting a Japan split between capitalism and communism, was awarded the Bunkamura Deux Magots Literary Prize. The decision to award Yahagi the Mishima Yukio Prize, traditionally given to young writers, in 2004 for Rarara kagaku no ko (La-la-la Child of Science) generated a lot of press coverage. Other books include his Raymond Chandler homage Rongu guddobai (The Wrong Goodbye; 2004).