Shin’ichi Hoshi

Shin'ichi Hoshi (星 新 一Hoshi Shin'ichi, born September 6, 1926 in Tokyo, † December 30, 1997 ibid ) was one of the most famous Japanese science fiction writer.

Life

Shin'ichi Hoshi was born on 6 September 1926 in Tokyo and grew up with his grandparents. It should include the chemical- pharmaceutical factory his family take over and therefore took a science degree at the State University of Tokyo on. He earned a master's degree in agricultural chemistry in 1950 with a thesis on amylase production and began to write his doctoral thesis. However, one year after his father died, and Hoshi had to quit his academic career and served as head of the company. This turned out to be completely run down out, and after a short time he was forced to leave the company. After the end of his business existence Hoshi spent some disoriented years with the game of Go and cinema visits. The films shown there and the reading of Ray Bradbury's short story cycle The Martian Chronicles brought him the idea to write SF, and he published in 1957 his first story in a fanzine. This story was reprinted by the prestigious monthly magazine Hoseki, other texts followed, and finally Hoshi became a permanent staff of the magazine. He also wrote for newly founded magazines SF magazine and Hitchcock magazine and has written screenplays for the SF TV series spaceship Simca (realized with puppets ).

In 1961 his first volume of short - short stories was published. These often only three to five pages long works were his specialty, and made him into one of the most famous science-fiction authors in Japan. In his shortest stories with ironic humor he described the effects of anxiety about the future and the tragicomic aspects of modern existence; his lyrics are characterized by bizarre situations unerwartenen twists and surprising punch. He also wrote two SF- novels, thrillers and more screenplays for television, as well as a science fiction book for young people; usually every year appeared two to three books. Together with Komatsu Sakyō Yasutaka Tsutsui and he is counted among the " Big Three " of Japanese science fiction.

The puppet film The Flower and the mole, for which he wrote the screenplay, was honored at the 1966 Venice Film Festival with a price.

In Germany, published in 1982 A sneaky planet with 40 of its more than 1,000 short stories.

Shin'ichi Hoshi died on 30 December 1997.

Works ( in German translation )

• Shinichi Hoshi: A sneaky Planet. Heyne, München 1982, ISBN 3-453-30815-8.
• Shinichi Hoshi: Crazy planet. 7 science-fiction stories, Swiss Jugendschriften plant Zurich, 1985 ( selection from A sneaky Planet)