Sakyo Komatsu

Sakyo Komatsu was born in Osaka, Japan, in 1931 and graduated from Kyoto University with a degree in Italian Literature in 1954. He began writing in college and turned to science fiction in 1959, winning the Twenty-Seventh Annual Japan Mystery Writer's Association Award with the publication of Japan Sinks in 1973 and the Japan SF Award for his Tokyo Vanished in 1985. He's also the six-time winner of the Seiun Award. As a screenwriter, director, and producer, he brought the movie version of his novel Bye-Bye Jupiter to the screen in 1984. Komatsu has participated in the production of a number of large public events, including the Japan World Exposition in Osaka (1970) as an assistant producer of the theme pavilion, the Tsukuba Science Exposition (1985), the Silk Road Exposition in Nara (1988), and the International Garden and Greenery Exposition in Osaka (1990). His work on this last event as general producer earned him the Osaka Cultural Award. In 2007, he was the author Guest of Honor at the World Science Fiction Convention, the first to be held in Asia. Komatsu passed away in July 2011