Hitonari Tsuji

Hitonari Tsuji (辻 仁成) is a Tokyo-born Japanese writer, 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.

The film was featured in the 27th Seattle International Film Festival.

Tsuji was born in Tokyo in 1959.

During the 1980s, Tsuji started seriously writing novels as a “Blank Generation” writer.

In the 1980s, Tsuji started producing independent films through his college’s movie club.

He debuted as a vocalist of the rock band ECHOS in 1985 and the original song "ZOO" reached over a million sales.

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.

In 1989, his first novel, Pianissimo, won the 13th Subaru Prize for Literature (Subaru Bungaku Sho).

Tsuji was married to actress Kaho Minami from 1995 to 2000.

In 1997, he was awarded the 116th Akutagawa Prize for Kaikyo no Hikari (The Light from the Straits).

His books Calmi Cuori Appassionati Blu (1999) and Good Bye See You Someday (2001).

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 (The White Buddha, or Hakubutsu, published by Mercure de France).

He is the first Japanese writer to ever win the Prix Femina Award.

In 1999, his directorial debut, Sennen-Tabito (for which he did the direction, screenwriting, and music) was presented as an official invitation film for the 56th International Critic week of the Venice Film Festival.

He is also a film director and his films include Hotoke (ほとけ) (2001) and Filament (フィラメント) (2001) were officially presented at the 51st Berlinale and the 37th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival where he won a special mention in the Ecumenical Jury Award category.

In 2001, his movie Hotoke (director, writer, and music) 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.

He married singer and actress Miho Nakayama in 2002 and they moved to Paris, France, before she gave birth to their son a year later.

In 2002, his movie Filament (director, screenwriter, music) 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 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.

He was a professor at Kyoto University of Art and Design from 2007 to 2016.

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 7th Festival du cinéma japonais contemporain Kinotayo (2012-2013) and awarded the Prix de la meilleure image (best cinematography).

In 2011, Tsuji wrote a children’s book called In Rapet’s World dedicated to children who were struck by the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake.

They divorced in 2014, and Nakayama moved back to Japan, with Tsuji retaining custody of their son.

He launched the web magazine Design Stories and became its chief editor in October 2016.