Joh Sasaki was born inYubari, Hokkaido, Japan.[2][3] He spent his early youth in Nakashibetsu City and later moved toSapporo where he attended Tsukisamu High School. He released his first novel,Tekkihei, tonda (鉄騎兵、跳んだ), in 1979.[4][5] Sasaki quickly established himself as a writer after winning the All Yomimono New Writers Prize forTekkihei, tonda, which was also later adapted for the big screen.[6] Today Sasaki is very widely known, and has written numerous works in genres includinghistorical fiction,young adult fiction and policecrime fiction, as well as TVcrime drama adaptations.[7][8]
In 2009, Sasaki won Japan's number one literary award, theNaoki Prize, for his workja:廃墟に乞うHaikyo ni kou, and also holds many other literary awards.[9][10][11][12] These days Sasaki is actively developing his stories for the stage in addition to directing a children's e-picture book project calledJoh's Picture Book Project.[13]
Joh Sasaki is well known in Japan as a social entertainment writer.[citation needed] In his novelja:真夜中の遠い彼方 Mayonaka no tooi kanata (later re-titled toja:新宿のありふれた夜Shinjuku no arifureta yoru), he depicts the underground lifestyles of theJapanese mafia,boat people, andillegal alien workers. Inja:夜にその名を呼べばYoru ni sono na o yobeba, Sasaki portrays a chillingCold War scene in a mystery set inOtaru, Hokkaido andBerlin, Germany. His police mystery thriller,ja:歌う警官Utau keikan (later re-titled toja:笑う警官Warau keikan) was adapted for the big screen and provides an early setting for his later internationally acclaimed roman-fleuve novelja:警官の血Keikan no chi which was eventually adapted for television. Sasaki'sja:ベルリン飛行指令Berlin hikō shimei (English title:Zero Over Berlin) garnered critical acclaim for telling aWorld War II story from the Japanese perspective; it focuses on a fly-by-night mission involving a Type Zero Fighter (Mitsubishi A6M Zero) secretly making its way from Japan all the way to Berlin at the request of theLuftwaffe.[14][15][16][17]Zero Over Berlin is presently Sasaki's only novel translated into English.[18]
1994ja:ストックホルムの密使Stockholm no misshi: novel winning the Japan Adventure Fiction Association Prize.
2002ja:武揚伝Buyōden: novel winning theNitta Jirō Prize for Literature.
2008ja:警官の血Keikan no chi (The Policeman's Lineage[19]): novel winning the first place in the "Kono Mystery ga Sugoi! 2008" and the Japan Adventure Fiction Association Prize.
2009ja:廃墟に乞うHaikyo ni kou (Prayer in the Ruins[20]): novel winning the nationally acclaimed literary awardNaoki Prize.
