Kanbe Musashi
Entry updated 12 September 2022. Tagged: Author.
Pseudonym of Jun Sakagami (1948- ), Japanese author and sometime Radio host whose work often crosses over into the absurd. A graduate in Sociology from the Kansai Academy, he went to work in advertising after college. His short story debut "Kessen: Nippon Series" ["Battle: Japan Series"] (January 1975 S-F Magazine) was a Satire in which the sporting rivalry between two Baseball teams is taken to violent extremes. He became a contributor to Yasutaka Tsutsui's fanzine Neo Null the following year, and soon became a full-time author, heavily influenced not only by Tsutsui but also by other Japanese writers, unlike his elders, who were more often influenced by American authors in translation.
He won a Seiun Award for his first novel Saikoro Tokkōtai ["Dice Commando"] (1976), which lampooned the use of risk assessment in crisis management. Many other books satirize corporate decision-making and Newspeak, including the short stories of Junkai Sennōban ["Roving Brainwash Squad"] (coll 1983) and his book of religious essays Rikutsu wa Rikutsu, Kami wa Kami ["Theory is Theory, God is God"] (coll 2005)
In the twenty-first century, his output slowed to occasional books for the children's and Young Adult markets as he devoted his time to appearances on a radio talk-show that aired every weekday. His Miracle Sannen, Kaki Hachinen ["Three Years' Miracles, Eight Years' Persimmons"] (2010) chronicles his experience of juggling a writer's life with the demands of rolling news and media celebrity. [JonC]
Jun Sakagami
born Kanazawa, Japan: 16 January 1948
works
- Saikoro Tokkōtai ["Dice Commando"] (Tokyo: Hayakawa Shobō, 1976) [binding unknown/]
- Warageki Kūbo Albatross ["Laughing-Attack Aircraft Carrier Albatross"] (Tokyo: Kadokawa Shoten, 1978) [binding unknown/]
- Kōkyō Kōsakikō ["The Public Examination System"] (Tokyo: Tokuma Shoten, 1979) [binding unknown/]
- Gengo Hakaikan ["Language Destructor"] (Tokyo: Asahi Shinbunsha, 1980) [coll/binding unknown/]
- 38 Mannin no Gyōten ["380,000 People Amazed"] (Tokyo: Asahi Shinbunsha, 1982) [binding unknown/]
- Ōjiisan no Uchū ["Old Man's Space"] (Tokyo: Kōdansha, 1983) [binding unknown/]
- Suttobi Shōshi no Daichōyaku ["Crystalline Big Leap"] (Tokyo: Chūō Kōron-sha, 1983) [binding unknown/]
- Musashi Nichiyō Warazukan ["Musashi Sunday Laughopedia"] (Tokyo: Shinchōsha, 1985) [binding unknown/]
- Ōedo Baka Sōshi ["Silly Tales of Old Tokyo"] (Tokyo: Kōdansha, 1986) [binding unknown/]
- Kofuyu Mokushiroku ["Revelations of a Lonely Winter"] (Tokyo: Chūō Kōron-sha, 1986) [binding unknown/]
- Dōsei Dōmei Gyakujinsei ["Same-name Anti-life"] (Tokyo: Kōbunsha Bunko, 1987) [pb/]
- Taihei Hōsō Nijūyonji ["24-Hour Peace Broadcast"] (Tokyo: Shūeisha, 1988) [coll of linked stories: binding unknown/]
- Dainiji Dasshutsu Keikaku ["Escape Plan B"] (Tokyo: Tokuma Shoten, 1988) [binding unknown/]
- Nichi no Honichi no Kahōmono ["One Lucky Guy"] (Tokyo: Futabasha, 1989) [fixup: binding unknown/]
- Zabuton Tarō Sora o Yuku ["Cushion Tarō Takes Flight"] (Tokyo: Pep Shuppan, 1989) [binding unknown/]
- Traum Eiga Kōsha ["The Traum Movie Company"] (Tokyo: Hakusuisha, 1989) [binding unknown/]
- Damaseshi Kimi yo ["Will You Shut Up"] (Tokyo: Futabasha, 1990) [binding unknown/]
- Tōi no Machi, Ai no Machi ["Distant Town, Love's Town"] (Tokyo: Tairiku Shobō, 1990) [binding unknown/]
- Katasumi no Kecchaku ["Decisive Corner"] (Tokyo: Futabasha, 1991) [binding unknown/]
- Kachō no Yakudoshi ["The Section Chief's Unlucky Year"] (Tokyo: Kōbunsha, 1992) [binding unknown/]
- Tōkyō BB Keikaku ["Tokyo Plan BB"] (Tokyo: Futabasha, 1993) [coll of linked stories: binding unknown/]
- Niji no Kakehashi Sanji no Oyatsu ["Three in the Afternoon on the Rainbow Bridge"] (Tokyo: Kōbunsha Bunko, 1993) [pb/]
- Shūshoku Gorilla Juku ["Inaugural Gorilla School"] (Tokyo: Kōbunsha Bunko, 1994) [pb/]
- Isogaba Uzumaki ["More Haste, Less Swirl"] (Tokyo: Tokuma Shoten, 1995) [binding unknown/]
- Narunaru Kabocha o Mamore ["Protect Narunaru Pumpkin"] (Tokyo: Kokudosha, 1998) [binding unknown/]
- Jinji Buchō Gokuhi File ["Secret Files of the Human Resources Manager"] (Tokyo: Kōbunsha Bunko, 1999) [coll of linked stories: pb/]
- Omoyaku Tsuihō ["Executive Exile"] (Tokyo: Kōbunsha Bunko, 2000) [pb/]
- Funsen Restora Sanjūshi ["Hard Battle: The Restoration Three Musketeers"] (Tokyo: Tokuma Bunko, 2000) [pb/]
- Kochira, FM Yūyū Desu ["This is FM Fun"] (Tokyo: Kobunsha Bunko, 2000) [pb/]
- Warageki: Potlatch Taisen ["Laughter Attack: Potlatch Battle"] (Tokyo: Kōdansha Aodori Bunko, 2003) [pb/]
- Ranretsu: Ijoshiki Daiwararan ["Intense! Ijoshiki Big Laughs"] (Tokyo: Kōdansha Aodori Bunko, 2004) [pb/]
collections
- Kessen: Nippon Series ["Battle: Japan Series"] (Tokyo: Hayakawa Shobō, 1976) [coll: binding unknown/]
- Ore wa Rommel ["I Am Rommel"] (Tokyo: Inner Trip-sha, 1976) [coll: binding unknown/]
- Potlatch Senshi ["Potlatch War Chronicle"] (Tokyo: Kōdansha, 1977) [coll: binding unknown/]
- Tateuri Jūtaku Onsenkyō ["Prefabricated Hot Spring Glade"] (Tokyo: Bungei Shunjū, 1977) [coll: binding unknown/]
- Isōrō Ushimatsu ["Dealing with Flamboyant Freeloaders"] (Tokyo: Kadokawa Shoten, 1978) [coll of linked stories: binding unknown/]
- Uchū no Botchan ["Master from Space"] (Tokyo: Tokuma Shoten, 1978) [coll: binding unknown/]
- Suiso Seisohō ["Principles of Hydrogenation"] (Tokyo: Tokuma Shoten, 1978) [coll: binding unknown/]
- Shacho Chokusoku Zokugekika ["Supervisory Office Attack Section"] (Tokyo: Kōdansha, 1979) [coll: binding unknown/]
- Spy no Uchimaku ["Spy's Lowdown"] (Tokyo: Jitsugyō no Nippon-sha, 1979) [coll: binding unknown/]
- Shūchūkōgi ["Intensive Lecture Series"] (Tokyo: Bungei Shunjū, 1980) [coll: binding unknown/]
- Bergonzoli Senban ["The Bergonzoli Lathe"] (Tokyo: Tokuma Shoten, 1980) [coll: binding unknown/]
- Gen'uo Yonechi ["Raw Fish Yonechi"] (Tokyo: Kōdansha, 1981) [coll: binding unknown/]
- SF Kaidō Futaritabi ["Two Travellers on an SF Road Trip"] (Tokyo: Tokuma Shoten, 1981) with Akira Hori [coll: binding unknown/]
- Kanchigai Heikobo ["Misunderstood Reticent Boy"] (Tokyo: Tokuma Shoten, 1982) [coll: binding unknown/]
- Junkai Sennōban ["Roving Brainwash Squad"] (Tokyo: Chūō Kōron-sha, 1983) [coll: binding unknown/]
- Bōsō Tokkyū ["Runaway Express"] (Tokyo: Chūō Kōron-sha, 1988) [coll: binding unknown/]
- Jikū Ichibiri Hyakkei ["One Hundred Joking Views of Space-Time"] (Tokyo: Mainichi Shinbunsha, 1989) with Akira Hori [coll: binding unknown/]
- Yūran Hikō ["Sightseeing Aviation"] (Tokyo: Tokuma Shoten, 1990) [coll: binding unknown/]
- Torokko ["Truck"] (Tokyo: Shuppan Geijutsusha, 1994) [coll: binding unknown/]
- Hitorioki Hannin ["One of Every Criminal"] (Tokyo: Kōbunsha, 1996) [coll: binding unknown/]
- Hyaku no Me no Kagayaku ["The Blinking of A Hundred Eyes"] (Tokyo: Kōbunsha Bunko, 1996) [coll: pb/]
nonfiction
- Musashi Kanbe Ki ["Records of Musashi Kanbe"] (Tokyo: Tokuma Shoten, 1978) [nonfiction: coll: binding unknown/]
- Uegahara: Bakushō Daigaku ["Uegahara: LOL University"] (Tokyo: Hugh Magazine, 1998) [nonfiction: coll: exp of the above: binding unknown/]
- Musashi Sōsasen ["Musashi Scanlines"] (Tokyo: Kisōtengaisha, 1979) [nonfiction: coll: binding unknown/]
- Musashi Katagankyō ["Musashi Monocle"] (Tokyo: Kōdansha, 1981) [nonfiction: coll: binding unknown/]
- Hirameki Gijutsu ["Inspiring Technologies"] (Tokyo: Kōbunsha, 1983) [nonfiction: coll: binding unknown/]
- Futagosaurus no Shūrai ["Invasion of the Twinsaurus"] (Tokyo: Chūō Kōron-sha, 1995) [nonfiction: binding unknown/]
- Rikutsu wa Rikutsu, Kami wa Kami ["Theory is Theory, God is God"] (Tokyo: Kōdansha, 2005) [nonfiction: coll: binding unknown/]
- Miracle Sannen, Kaki Hachinen ["Three Years' Miracles, Eight Years' Persimmons"] (Tokyo: Shōgakukan, 2010) [nonfiction: binding unknown/]
links
previous versions of this entry