His experiences in the earthquake strengthened his resolve to make writing his career. He married Yasu Akazawa in 1923, the year of the Great Kantō earthquake. He joined the newspaper Maiyu Shimbun in 1921, and in the following year he began publishing serializations, starting with Life of Shinran. In 1914, with The Tale of Enoshima, he won first prize in a novel-writing contest sponsored by the publisher Kodansha. He joined a poetry society and started writing comic haiku under the pseudonym 'Kijiro.' Around this time he became interested in comic haiku. When he was 18, after a near-fatal accident working at the Yokohama docks, he moved to Tokyo and became an apprentice in a gold lacquer workshop. Because of his father's failed business, he had to drop out of primary school to work when he was 11 years old.

He was born Hidetsugu Yoshikawa ( 吉川英次 Yoshikawa Hidetsugu ?) in Kanagawa Prefecture, in what is now a part of Yokohama. He is cited as one of the best historical novelists in Japan and even the world in general. He was awarded the Cultural Order of Merit in 1960 (the highest award for a man of letters), the Order of the Sacred Treasure and the Mainichi Art Award just before his death of cancer in 1962. His other books also serve similar purposes and, although most of his novels aren't original, he created a huge amount of work and renewed interest in the past.

For instance, the original manuscript of Taiko is about 15 volumes, so Yoshikawa took up the job to retell it in close and accessible language. He was mainly influenced by classics such as The Tale of the Heike, Tale of Genji, Outlaws of the Marsh, and Romance of the Three Kingdoms, many of which he retold later in his life. Among his most well-known novels, most are revisions of past works.

] Literature portalĮiji Yoshikawa ( 吉川英治 Yoshikawa Eiji ?, Aug– September 7, 1962) was a Japanese historical novelist, probably one of the best and most famous authors in the genre. Yasu Akazawa (m. 1923) «start: ( 1923)» ' Marriage: Yasu Akazawa to Eiji Yoshikawa' Location: (linkback: ), Fumiko Ikedo

Musashi 1 eiji yoshikawa