Sakyo Komatsu (1931-2011)

Japanese science fiction writer, screenwriter, and essayist “Sakyo Komatsu”, (Minoru Komatsu), 80, died in Osaka of pneumonia on Tuesday July 26, 2011.

Komatsu authored the disaster novel Japan Sinks! (1973), which inspired two live-action movies and a television series. The Komatsu Sakyo Anime Gekijo anime TV series was also inspired by his stories. Komatsu’s work has sold millions of copies; he has won the Nihon SF Taisho award, given by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of Japan, and the Seiun Award. His stories “Take Your Choice” and “The Savage Mouth” have been translated into English and anthologized. He has also written manga as Minoru Mori.

Komatsu was born January 28, 1931 in Osaka. He took a degree in Italian literature in 1954 from Kyoto University, and worked as a magazine editor, factory foreman, and comedy scriptwriter before turning to writing science fiction. He published fanzine fiction starting in 1952, then wrote for genre magazines and Japanese newspapers. Many of his works have been adapted as anime, TV, and movies.

For more information, see the Encyclopedia of SF and Anime News Network. A full obituary will appear in the September issue of Locus.