Image via Japan Society
© 1998 Ring/Spiral Production Committee Production
World-renowned horror novelist Kōji Suzuki died in a hospital in Tokyo on Friday. He was 68.
Suzuki was born in Hamamatsu City in 1957. The prolific writer made his professional debut with the novel Rakuen (Paradise), which shared honors in the 2nd Japan Fantasy Novel Awards in 1990.
Suzuki is best-known for his next novel Ring, a 1991 horror story which launched a franchise that includes Hideo Nakata’s 1998 live-action Japanese film adaptation, Gore Verbinski’s 2002 American remake The Ring, a manga adaptation, the Sadako-san and Sadako-chan manga, and more. He was often credited with launching the J-horror boom in the west.
His “Floating Water” short story also inspired the live-action film Dark Water in 2002, and that film received an American remake in 2005.
Suzuki’s other writings include Spiral, Loop, the Birthday short story collection, S, and Tide. HIs titles have been adapted into several manga, films, and other spinoff titles. His Ring, Spiral, Loop and Birthday books became bestsellers with over eight million copies.
Suzuki appeared in the 1998 live-action film adaptation of his Spiral novel in a cameo role as a Department Store Father.
Suzuki became the first Japanese author to win the Best Novel prize at the Shirley Jackson Awards for his novel Edge in 2013. His other awards include the Yoshikawa Eiji Prize for New Writers in 1996 and the 2021 Bram Stoker Award for Lifetime Achievement. His works were also nominated for the Naoki Prize, the Izumi Kyōka Prize for Literature, and the Japanese SF Award.
Source: Asahi Shimbun (Kensuke Nonami)
