Shohei Ooka
Biography
Shohei Ooka was born in 1909 in Tokyo. He learned and studied literature at university, devoting himself to studying and translating Stendhal. In 1944, he was drafted into the army and served in the Philippines. He was captured by the Americans and imprisoned. On the recommendations of his tutor and mentor Hideo Kobayashi, he published Furyoki (Taken Captive: a Japanese POW’s Story). However, he is best known in the West for Nobi (Fires on the Plain), another account of his wartime experiences in the Philippines. He published other novels and biographies. He died in 1988.
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Bibliography
only books translated into English)
1948 俘虜記 (Taken Captive: a Japanese POW’s Story)
1950 武蔵野夫人 (A Wife in Musashino)
1952 野火 (Fires on the Plain)
1959 花影 (The Shade of Blossoms)