Hoshi Shin'ichi, one of the most popular short-story writers of postwar Japan, was born in Tokyo and raised in the house of his grandparents, Koganei Yoshikiyo (an anthropologist ) and Kimiko (the younger sister of Mori "gai ). Hoshi graduated in agriculture from Tokyo University, but then went through a difficult period during which his father died and the family-run Hoshi Pharmaceutical Company went bankrupt. He made his literary debut in 1957 when Sekisutora (Sextra), a story that had originally been published in a science-fiction coterie magazine, was selected for inclusion in Edogawa Ranpo’s Hōseki (The Jewel) magazine. Hoshi thereafter made the “short-short story” format his own special province, weaving into this compact form a sense of social criticism and a deep understanding of human nature.

During his career Hoshi wrote over a thousand of these short-short stories, the first collection of which, Jinzō bijin (An Artificial Beauty, 1961), was nominated for the Naoki Prize. His Mōsō ginkō (The Delusion Bank) won the Japan Mystery Writers Award in 1968. Hoshi won a large and devoted audience of readers as a result of his portrayals of future angst and the tragicomedy of modern existence in stories characterized by bizarre situations, unexpected plot turns, and surprise endings. His stories use both humor and a fable-like didacticism to produce a biting irony that brings into sharp relief essential aspects of the human condition. Highly regarded full-length works include the science-fiction novel Koe no ami (A Net of Voices,1971), and the biographies Jinmin wa yowashi, kanri wa tsuyoshi (The People Are Weak, Bureaucracy Is Strong; 1968), about the unavailing attempts of Hoshi’s father to overcome official red tape, and Sōfu: Koganei Yoshikiyo no ki (My Grandfather: An Account of Koganei Yoshikiyo,1975).

• A Bag of Surprises. Trans. Stanleigh J. Jones. Tokyo: Kodansha International, 1989.
• The Best Japanese Science Fiction Stories . Ed. Martin H. Greenberg and John L. Apostolou. 1989. New York: Barricade Books, 1997. Contains "Bokko-chan" and "He-y, Come on Ou-t!".
• The Capricious Robot. Trans. Robert Matthew. Kodansha English Library 22. Tokyo: Kodansha International, 1986.
• The Spiteful Planet and Other Stories. Trans. Bernard Susser and Tomoyoshi Genkawa. Tokyo: Japan Times, 1978.

 

 

 

 

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