Taichi Yamada

For the Japanese Olympic rower, see Taichi Yamada (rower).

Taichi Yamada (山田 太一, Yamada Taichi, 6 June 1934^[1] – 29 November 2023) was a Japanese screenwriter and novelist. His real name was Taichi Ishizaka (石坂 太一, Ishizaka Taichi).

Life and career

Born in Asakusa, Tokyo, Yamada attended Waseda University before entering the Shōchiku film studios, where he trained as an assistant director under Keisuke Kinoshita.^[2] He left the company at age 30 to focus on writing scripts for television dramas, penning such successful series as Kishibe no arubamu and Fuzoroi no ringotachi.^[2] He also wrote scripts for film and the stage.

As a novelist, his novel Ijintachi to no natsu (異人たちとの夏), published in 1987, won the Yamamoto Shūgorō Prize.^[3] It was translated into English, in 2003, as Strangers. Another Yamada novel, In Search of a Distant Voice, was translated and published in 2006 from a novel originally published in Japan in 1989. A third Yamada novel, I Haven't Dreamed of Flying for a While (飛ぶ夢をしばらく見ない, Tobu yume o shibaraku minai), was translated into English and published in 2008.

The first film adaptation of Strangers, The Discarnates, competed for the Golden St. George at the 16th Moscow International Film Festival in July 1989 and won other select film awards. The second film adaptation, All of Us Strangers, premiered at Telluride Film Festival in August 2023 and also went on to be nominated for and win many film awards.

Yamada died on 29 November 2023, at the age of 89.^[4]

Selected works

Television

• Kishibe no arubamu (1977)
• Omoide Zukuri (1981)
• Fuzoroi no ringotachi (1983)
• Fuzoroi no ringotachi II (1985)
• Fuzoroi no ringotachi III (1991)
• Fuzoroi no ringotachi IV (1997)

Film

• Final Take (キネマの天地 Kinema no Tenchi) (1986)
• The Discarnates (異人たちとの夏, Ijin Tachi to no Natsu) (1988)
• Childhood Days (少年時代 Shōnen jidai) (1990)
• All of Us Strangers (Andrew Haigh) (2023)

Literature

• I Haven't Dreamed of Flying for a While (飛ぶ夢をしばらく見ない, Tobu yume wo shibaraku minai) (1985)
• Strangers (異人たちとの夏, Ijintachito no natsu) (1987)
• In Search of a Distant Voice (遠くの声を捜して, Toku no koe wo sagashite) (1989)

References

1. "顕彰状 山田太一氏" (PDF). Honors and Awards Database - Waseda University (in Japanese). Waseda University. 24 September 2016. Retrieved 3 December 2023.
2. "Kyakuhon, shōsetsuka Yamada Taiichi". Chūnichi shinbun. 9 September 2011. Archived from the original on 15 November 2011. Retrieved 30 October 2011.
3. "Yamamoto Shūgorō shō: Kako no jushō sakuhin". Shinchōsha. Retrieved 30 October 2011.
4. "Scriptwriter Taichi Yamada Dies at 89". The Japan News. 1 December 2023. Retrieved 1 December 2023.

External links

• Yamada's site Archived 31 December 2006 at the Wayback Machine (in English)
• Taichi Yamada Archived 8 April 2014 at the Wayback Machine at J'Lit Books from Japan (in English)