 He would later return to Japan to earn his doctorate.Hoffmann did not begin writing fiction until in his forties, and though chronologically a member of the sixties "Generation of the State," his work is oft-described as being on the forefront of avant-garde Hebrew literature, with an influence of his Japanese studies discernible in his works.Hoffmann's first book of fiction, "Kätzchen - The Book of Joseph", was published in Hebrew in 1988.