Kan Prize in 1968, and was made a member of the review committee for the Naoki Prize in 1970. In 1973, he was designated a Person of Cultural Merit by the Japanese government. He won the Academy of Arts Prize in 1976. While writing TV dramas on the side, he contributed to the field of historical/biographical novels with Busho Retsuden ("Biographies of Warriors") and Akunin Retsuden ("Biographies of Villains"). He considered his life's work to be a biography of Saigō Takamori, which he failed to complete due to his death by a cerebral hemorrhage in 1977. His grave is at the Tsukiji Hongan-ji in Tokyo. See also Japanese literature List of Japanese writers References Frédéric, Louis. Japan Encyclopedia. Harvard University Press (2002), External links Literary Figures of Kamakura 1901 births 1977 deaths 20th-century Japanese novelists People from Kagoshima Prefecture Naoki Prize winners Japanese male writers 20th-century male writers Japanese television writers Male television writers Imperial Japanese Army personnel of World War II Kokugakuin University alumni Persons of Cultural Merit 20th-century screenwriters Writers from Kagoshima Prefecture