https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenji_Nakagami
Nakagami Kenji (1946–92) is the first name that would come to mind if I were asked, ‘Whose was the strongest literary voice to appear after the Second World War?’ He unfurls his unique world before us with a powerful style that all but nails his characters and scenes to the page, his stories set against forceful images of his home area, Kishū (southern Wakayama Prefecture). I was surprised to find, when I met him and spoke with him face to face, that he seemed far gentler and more sensitive than I had imagined from his works. That he fell ill and died at the height of his powers is greatly to be regretted. In ‘Remaining Flowers’ (Nokori no hana, 1988), a young man lies naked with a blind woman in the darkness. Everything comes from the fertile earth, turns to bone and goes back to the earth. What emerges from the darkness returns to the darkness – a most impressive work. (introduction, haruki murakami)
Rubin, Jay (ed). The Penguin Book of Japanese Short Stories (Penguin Classics Hardcover) (p. xx). Penguin Books Ltd. Kindle edition.
