Other Film Novels By Japanese Directors

[Aaron Gerow]

I brought this topic up a long time ago when Aoyama Shinji won the 
Mishima Prize for his novelization of Eureka (I think that's the only 
novelization that has won a major literary award). He also did a 
novelization of Tsuki no sabaku and Helpless (that coming out about 6 
years after the film). Recently, he has published a number of novels 
unrelated to his films.

Other directors who have novelized their own films include Kawase Naomi 
(Moe no suzaku and Hotaru) and Kurosawa Kiyoshi (Michael mentioned 
Pulse, but there is also one for CURE). Iwai Shunji has a number of 
novels, but in some cases, those were written before the film.

When it comes to a director filming his or her own novel, one has to 
remember the large number of novelists who have taken up the megaphone, 
including Murakami Ryu, Shiina Makoto, Tsuji Jinsei, etc.

Aaron Gerow
Assistant Professor
Film Studies Program/East Asian Languages and Literatures
Director of Undergraduate Studies, Film Studies Program
Yale University
53 Wall Street, Room 316
PO Box 208363
New Haven, CT 06520-8363
USA
Phone: 1-203-432-7082
Fax: 1-203-432-6764
e-mail: aaron.gerow at yale.edu