Author. A native of Kagoshima Prefecture, his real name was Tosaku Suetomi. His novels "Utakata Zoshi (Transient Notes)" and "Fuun (Threatening Situation)" won prizes in fiction contests sponsored by the weekly "Sunday Mainichi" magazine in 1929 and 1932 respectively. His stories "Tensho Onna Gassen (Tensho Women's Battle)" and "Budo Denraiki (Samurai Chronicle)" won the Naoki Prize in 1936, thereby adding to his renown. After the Pacific War, he published such large-scale novels as "Moko kitaru (Mongolians Attack)," "Taira no Masakado" and "Ten to Chi to" (Heaven and Earth). Most notably, he made unique contributions in the category of biographical novels with works such as "Busho Retsuden (Biographies of Warriors), "Akunin Retsuden (Biographies of Villains)" and "Saigo Takamori, ten to chi to," a story of the legendary supporter of the Meiji Restoration who would later be the inspiration for the 2003 movie "The Last Samurai." Many of these epics were adapted for television. Kaionji also won the Kan Kikuchi Prize in 1968 and the Academy of Arts Prize in 1976.
Author. A native of Kagoshima Prefecture, his real name was Tosaku Suetomi. His novels "Utakata Zoshi (Transient Notes)" and "Fuun (Threatening Situation)" won prizes in fiction contests sponsored by the weekly "Sunday Mainichi" magazine in 1929 and 1932 respectively. His stories "Tensho Onna Gassen (Tensho Women's Battle)" and "Budo Denraiki (Samurai Chronicle)" won the Naoki Prize in 1936, thereby adding to his renown. After the Pacific War, he published such large-scale novels as "Moko kitaru (Mongolians Attack)," "Taira no Masakado" and "Ten to Chi to" (Heaven and Earth). Most notably, he made unique contributions in the category of biographical novels with works such as "Busho Retsuden (Biographies of Warriors), "Akunin Retsuden (Biographies of Villains)" and "Saigo Takamori, ten to chi to," a story of the legendary supporter of the Meiji Restoration who would later be the inspiration for the 2003 movie "The Last Samurai." Many of these epics were adapted for television. Kaionji also won the Kan Kikuchi Prize in 1968 and the Academy of Arts Prize in 1976.
Bio by: Warrick L. Barrett
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