, known by his pen name Kan Kikuchi (which uses the same kanji

Kanji

Kanji are the adopted logographic Chinese characters hanzi that are used in the modern Japanese writing system along with hiragana , katakana , Indo Arabic numerals, and the occasional use of the Latin alphabet...

 as his real name), was a Japanese

Japanese people

The are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...

 author

Author

An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...

 born in Takamatsu

Takamatsu, Kagawa

is a city located in central Kagawa Prefecture on the island of Shikoku in Japan, and is the seat of the prefectural government. It is designated a core city by the Japanese Government. It is a port city located on the Seto Inland Sea, and is the closest port to Honshu from Shikoku island...

, Kagawa Prefecture

Kagawa Prefecture

is a prefecture of Japan located on Shikoku island. The capital is Takamatsu.- History :Kagawa was formerly known as Sanuki Province.For a brief period between August 1876 and December 1888, Kagawa was made a part of Ehime Prefecture.-Battle of Yashima:...

, Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

. He established the publishing company Bungeishunjū

Bungeishunju

, established in 1923, is a Japanese publishing company known for its leading monthly magazine Bungeishunjū. It also grants the annual Akutagawa Prize, one of the most prestigious literary awards in Japan, as well as the annual Naoki Prize for popular novelists. It also grants the annual...

, the monthly magazine

Magazine

Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...

 of the same name

Bungeishunju (magazine)

is a leading Japanese monthly magazine published by Bungeishunjū. The magazine was started by writer Kikuchi Kan in 1923 in tandem with the founding of Bungeishunjū. The name of the magazine came from the title of the literary review column in the magazine Shinchō by Kan...

, the Japan Writer's Association and both the Akutagawa

Akutagawa Prize

The is a Japanese literary award presented semi-annually. It was established in 1935 by Kan Kikuchi, then-editor of Bungeishunjū magazine, in memory of author Ryūnosuke Akutagawa...

 and Naoki Prize

Naoki Prize

The Naoki Prize is a Japanese literary award presented semiannually. The official name is Naoki Sanjugo Prize. It was created in 1935 by Kikuchi Kan, then editor of the Bungeishunjū magazine, and named in memory of novelist Naoki Sanjugo...

 for popular literature. He was also the head of Daiei Motion Picture Company (currently Kadokawa Pictures

Kadokawa Pictures

is a Japanese movie studio.-History:One of the most famous studios in Japan and founded in 1942 as , it is best known for having produced the giant monster Gamera film series and the Daimajin Trilogy. It also produced the Zatoichi and Nemuri Kyoshiro film series and the television series Shōnen Jet...

). He is known to have been an avid player of Mahjong

Mahjong

Mahjong, sometimes spelled Mah Jongg, is a game that originated in China, commonly played by four players...

.

Selected work

Kan Kikuchi's published writings encompass 512 works in 683 publications in 7 languages and 2,341 library holdings.
or Madman On The Roof http://www.thehumanbrainproject.com/doc-dawnofwesternscience0.html

• • film adaptations: Tōjūrō no Koi (1938 film) and Tōjūrō no Koi (1955 film)
    Tojuro no Koi (1955 film)
    is a 1955 black and white Japanese film directed by Kazuo Mori. It is based on the novel Tōjūrō no Koi written by Kan Kikuchi.- Cast :* Kazuo Hasegawa as Tojuro Sakata* Machiko Kyō as Okaji* Eitarō Shindō as Mandayu Miyako...
    
    

External links

• Author's entry at Aozora Bunko
• Hiroshi Kikuchi's grave