Gō Ōsaka (1943–) , son of the well-known painter and illustrator Kazuya Naka, avers that he first began writing detective stories and hardboiled fiction when he was in middle school. After graduating from college, … Details

Makoto Ōishi (1925–1990) was an author of books for young children. His Mienakunatta Kuro (Kuro Is Lost) won the Shogakukan Prize for Literature in 1963, and Nemurenai ko (The Child Who Couldn’t Sleep) … Details

Michio Ōishi (1935–) completed his doctoral work in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Tokyo. His distinguished career has included stints as professor at the New York University School of … Details

Shinya Ouchi (1963–) is a professor in the Graduate School of Law and Faculty of Law, Kobe University. He earned his PhD in Law at the University of Tokyo Graduate Schools for Law … Details

Kenzaburō Ōe (1935–) was born in Ehime Prefecture on the island of Shikoku, in a small village tucked in a forested valley, where he was in the fifth grade when World War II … Details

Shohei Ooka  (1909–1988) was born in Tokyo and studied French literature at Kyoto University. He became an avid follower of Stendhal upon encountering his works after graduation. Drafted in 1944, Ooka was stationed in … Details

Michiko Ohkura (1953–), EngD, was born in Osaka. She completed a master’s degree in the Department of Mathematical Engineering and Information Physics in the Graduate School of Engineering at the University of Tokyo in 1978, … Details

Yoshio Ohsaki  (1957–)  is a native of Sapporo, Hokkaido. After moving to Tokyo for college, he developed a deep interest in the game of shogi, or Japanese chess, and in his mid-twenties went to work … Details

Kozue Ōsaki made her literary debut in 2006 with Haitatsu akazukin: Seifūdō Shoten jiken memo (Red Riding Hood Delivery: The Seifūdō Bookstore Case Files), a collection of linked stories featuring as the detective a female … Details

Arimasa Ōsawa (1956–) is one of Japan’s leading writers of hard-boiled crime fiction. A voracious reader of mysteries and fiction by Raymond Chandler and others from the time he was in grade school, … Details

Masumi Ōshima (1962–) loved reading from the time she was a small child, and with her sights already set on becoming a novelist, began writing fiction while still in middle school. During college … Details

Reiko Osoko (1946–) was born in Yamaguchi Prefecture, and graduated from Aoyama Gakuin University with a degree in English and American literature. She began working as an illustrator while still in school, and … Details

Kōichi Ōta (1944–) graduated from the University of Tokyo in 1967 with a degree in physics, and completed his PhD in physics at the University of Tokyo Graduate School of Science in 1972. … Details

Naoko Otani (1973–) was born in Shizuoka Prefecture. Her family owned a barbershop, and she chose to follow in her parents' footsteps. She worked for four years at a barbershop in Ochanomizu, Tokyo, … Details

Motoichi Ōtsu (1950–) was born in Kanagawa Prefecture, and completed his doctoral work at the Graduate School of Engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology in 1978. Currently he is a professor in the School … Details

Atsuko Otsuka (1960–) , a photographer, began taking news photographs in 1986 after graduating from university. She traveled to sites of international conflict, photographing the New People's Army in the Philippines, the Palestinian Intifada, … Details

Atsuko Otsuka (1942–) was born in Nagoya and graduated from Showa Women's University. She received the JAWC New Talent Award and the Japan Juvenile Writers Association New Writer Prize in 1990 for Umibe … Details

Yuzo Otsuka (1921–) was born in northeastern China, and graduated from the Tokyo Imperial University (now University of Tokyo) Faculty of Law. He worked at a major publishing house from 1957 until 1966, … Details

Akane Otsuki (1973–) was born in Yokohama, and graduated from Tokyo Zokei University with a degree in painting. Upon graduation in 1997, she created the cover art for the monthly Kokoku hihyo (Advertising … Details

Yasuo Ohtomo (or Ōtomo; 1946–) was inspired by his own son to begin creating picture books. He trains a sympathetic eye on little children and their activities, depicting them in his trademark gentle style with … Details