Hitonari Tsuji is a Tokyo-born Japanesewriter, composer, and film director. In his film and singing work he uses the name Jinsei Tsuji, an alternative reading of the Japanese writing of his name. He debuted as a writer in 1989. His books and stories have been bestsellers in Japan as well as overseas, with his work being translated into 20 languages and selling over ten million copies. His books Calmi Cuori Appassionati Blu and Good Bye See You Someday. He is also a film director and his films include Hotoke and Filament were officially presented at the 51st Berlin International Film Festival and the 37th Czech Karlovy Vary International Film Festival where he won the honorary awards. He launched the web magazine Design Stories and became its chief editor in October 2016.
Personal life
Tsuji was born in Tokyo in 1959. He debuted as a vocalist of the rock band ECHOS in 1985 and the original song "ZOO" reached over a million sales. He was a professor at Kyoto University of Art and Design from 2007 to 2016. His former wife is Japanese actressKaho Minami, but the two have divorced. His second wife was Japanese actress Miho Nakayama. In 2003, he and his wife moved to Paris, France. They were divorced in 2014.
Career
As a novelist
During the 1980s, Tsuji started seriously writing novels as a “Blank Generation” writer. In 1989, his first novel, Pianissimo, won the 13th Subaru Prize for Literature. In 1997, he was awarded the 116th Akutagawa Prize for Kaikyo no Hikari. In 1999, he was awarded the Prix Femina Award, a prestigious French literary prize, in the foreign novel category, for the French translation of Le Boudda blanc. He is the first Japanese writer to ever win the Prix Femina Award. In 2003, his seven short stories were published in the French literary magazine Je Bouquine. In 2005, he was selected by French literary magazine LIRE as one of the world’s 50 prospective novelists. In 2005, his serial novel was featured in the South Korean newspaper The Hankyoreh. Tsuji is the first Japanese native novelist to have his work published in The Hankyoreh. In 2011, Tsuji wrote a children’s book called In Rapet’s World dedicated to children who were struck by the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake.
As a film director
In the 1980s, Tsuji started producing independent films through his college’s movie club. In 1999, his directorial debut, Sennen-Tabito was presented as an official invitation film for the 56th International Critic week of the Venice Film Festival. In 2001, his movie Hotoke was presented as an official selection in the 51st Berlin International Film Festival, in the Panorama section. In the same year, Hotoke was presented to the Deauville Asian Film Festival, in the Competition section, and won best image award. The film was featured in the 27th Seattle International Film Festival. In 2002, his movie Filament was submitted to the 37th Czech Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in the Official Selection Competition section and awarded the International Ecumenical Jury of the Christian Churches. Tsuji also wrote and directed a TV movie titled Mokka no Koibito in 2002. In summer 2008, his other movie Acacia was produced; it was presented at the 22nd Tokyo International Film Festival in the Competition section in 2009. In 2010, his movie Paris Tokyo Paysage was produced and submitted to the 7thFestival du cinéma japonais contemporain Kinotayo and awarded the Prix de la meilleure image.
2001 - Hotoke, won best image award in the Competition section at the Deauville Asian Film Festival
2002 - Filament, awarded the International Ecumenical Jury of the Christian Churches in the Official Selection Competition section at the 37th Czech Karlovy Vary International Film Festival
