Shintaro Ishihara (1932~) was born in Kobe and brought up in Otaru, Hokkaido and Zushi, Kanagawa because of his father's job. While studying at Hitotsubashi University, he received the Akutagawa Prize for Taiyo no Kisetsu (Season of Violence) and made his sensational debut as a novelist. He ran for the House of Councilors in 1968, and was elected by the largest number of votes. Since then he has been successfully combining writing and political activity for a quarter of a century. He was the Governor of Tokyo between 1999 and 2012.

1995 Bungakukai Prize for New Writers and Akutagawa Prize, for Taiyo no Kisetsu (Season of Violence)

1971 Ministry of Education and Science Award, for Kaseki no Mori (The Petrified Forest)

1988 Hirabayashi Taiko Taiko Prize, for Seikan (Return to Life)

1996 Mainichi Publishing Culture Prize, for Ototo (Younger Brother)