Junichi Watanabe

 was a Japanese writer, known for his portrayal of the extra-marital affairs of middle-aged people.
Junichi Watanabe was born in Sunagawamachi (present-day Kamisunagawa).　
The origin of Watanabe Literature was the death of a classmate who was his first love in high school. His 1997 novel "A Lost Paradise" became a bestseller in Japan and over Asia, and was made into a film and a TV miniseries. He has written more than 50 novels in total, and won awards including Naoki Prize in 1970 for "Light and Shadow" ("Hikari to kage"), New Current Coterie magazine prize for "Makeup", the Yoshikawa Eiji Prize in 1979 for "The Setting Sun in the Distance" ("Toki rakujitsu") and "The Russian Brothel of Nagasaki" ("Nagasaki roshia yujokan").
He died on April 30, 2014 of prostate cancer in Tokyo.