e Kenzabur is a representative of contemporary Japanese literature by virtue of his abundant powers of creativity. In a literary career extending over four decades he has produced a large number of fine works, and in Japan he has received several prestigious literary awards, including the Akutagawa Prize (1958), the Tanizaki Jun'ichir Prize (1967), and the Noma Literary Prize (1973). He has also been highly praised overseas, receiving the Europelia Award from the EC (1989), the Italian Mondelosso Prize (1993), and the Nobel Prize for literature (1994). The citation for the Nobel Prize noted that through his "poetic force" e "creates an imagined world where life and myth condense to form a disturbing picture of the human predicament today." He was likewise hailed for his relentless search for ways in which mankind can survive together beneath the threat of nuclear annihilation, as expressed in his writing through his symbiotic relationship with his handicapped son...