Jiro Asada

Who is Jiro Asada?

Jirō Asada is the pen name of Kōjirō Iwato, a Japanese writer.

Inspired by Yukio Mishima, who tried to stage a coup d'état among Japan Self-Defense Forces then committed suicide after the coup was failed, Asada enlisted in the SDF after finishing his studies. He changed jobs many times while endeavoring to find writing opportunities, submitting his works to literary competitions. In 1991, his novel Torarete tamaruka! started his literary career. After writing several picaresque novels, his novel Metro ni notte was awarded the Eiji Yoshikawa Prize for New Writers and made into a 2006 film; a short story collection The Stationmaster and other stories was also awarded the Naoki Prize. He writes not only standard fiction and picaresque novels, but also writes historical and Chinese historical novels such as The Firmament of the Pleiades. He is seen as an author that has continued the traditional style of Japanese popular fiction.