Ten years old when Japan was defeated in World War Two, Oe was scarred by his memories, which included being asked in school every day if he was willing to die for the Emperor and feeling shame when realising in bed at night that he wasn't. He wrote about gruesome tales of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and noted how his shock at what he heard may have been his inspiration for becoming a writer.
TOKYO (AP) Nobel literature laureate Kenzaburo Oe, whose darkly poetic novels were built from his childhood memories during Japan’s postwar occupation and from being the parent of a disabled son, ha.
TOKYO (AP) Nobel literature laureate Kenzaburo Oe, whose darkly poetic novels were built from his childhood memories during Japan’s postwar occupation and from being the parent of a disabled son, has died. He was 88.