SHUSAKU ENDO (1923–1996) is widely regarded as one of the most important Japanese authors of the late twentieth century. He won many major literary awards and was nominated for the Nobel Prize several times. His novels, which have been translated into twenty-eight languages, include Silence, The Sea and Poison, Wonderful Fool, Deep River and The Samurai.
Endo was born in Tokyo. After spending his childhood in Manchuria, he was returned to Japan when his parents divorced. In Japan his mother had him baptized as a Catholic, and his later personal struggles with Catholicism, a religion alien to Japan, would be at the heart of many of his novels, leading critics to label him as Japan's Graham Greene. During the Second World War Endo worked in a munitions factory. His work there may have precipitated the complications to his health that were to plague the rest of his life. After the war Endo travelled Europe as a student. His experiences further augmented his conception of being an outsider. Soon after completing his studies, he gained first success as a novelist, winning the Akutagawa Prize, and then notoriety for his novel The Sea and Poison, based on the true story of Japanese surgeons who performed experimental vivisections on American prisoners of war. For many years his work was championed by his friend and agent the publisher Peter Owen, as well as Graham Green. His masterpiece Silence has recently been filmed by director Martin Scorsese, a cherished project the esteemed director has worked towards for decades.