Kazuo Dan

Kazuo Dan (1912–1976) was a Japanese novelist and poet born in Tsuru, Yamanashi Prefecture, to a family originally from Kyūshū. His early life was marked by frequent relocations due to his father's work, leading him to live with his grandparents in Yanagawa from age 6. After his parents' divorce at age nine, he moved to Ashikaga with his father, where he spent a solitary childhood exploring the countryside. Dan began his literary career at Fukuoka City High School, where he published poems, novels, and plays in the school magazine from the age of 16. He later enrolled at Tokyo Imperial University, earning an economics degree. After graduation, he dedicated himself entirely to writing, publishing works as a war correspondent during World War II and winning the Noma Prize in 1944. Following Japan's defeat, Dan returned home and married Yosoko in Yanagawa. The couple moved to Tokyo, where he resumed his literary career and won the prestigious Naoki Prize in 1950. He traveled extensively across Japan, Europe, the United States, China, Russia, Australia, and New Zealand. In 1971–1972, Dan lived in Santa Cruz, Portugal, in a house on Rua Professor Kazuo Dan. Dan retired to Nokonoshima Island after returning to Japan and died of cancer in Kyushu University Hospital. His grave is at Fukugon-ji Temple in Yanagawa. He received the 1975 Yomiuri Prize for *Kataku no hito*. Monuments honoring Dan exist in Santa Cruz and on Nokonoshima, and his poetry is engraved along Yanagawa's canals. His daughter, Fumi Dan, is an ...