Shūsaku Endō

Writing

Shūsaku Endō

Born March 27, 1923 · Toshima City, Tokyo, Japan

Died September 29, 1996 · aged 73

Endō Shūsaku, (born March 27, 1923, Tokyo, Japan—died Sept. 29, 1996, Tokyo), Japanese novelist noted for his examination of the relationship between East and West through a Christian perspective. Endō became a Roman Catholic at age 11 with the encouragement of his mother and an aunt. At Keio University he majored in French literature (B.A., 1949), a subject he studied from 1950 to 1953 at the Un…

Known For

SilenceSilence · 2016
Silence
7.12016
MovieDramaHistory
In the 17th century, two Portuguese Jesuit priests travel to Japan in an attempt to locate their mentor, who is rumored to have committed apostasy, and to propagate Catholicism.
SilenceSilence · 1971
Silence
7.21971
MovieDramaHistory
In 17th-century Japan, two Portuguese Jesuit priests seek their mentor, who is rumoured to have committed apostasy, and to propagate Catholicism.
Yojo no jidaiYojo no jidai · 1988
Yojo no jidai
7.01988
MovieMystery
Adapted from Shusaku Endō's novel.
The Sea and PoisonThe Sea and Poison · 1986
The Sea and Poison
7.01986
MovieDramaWar
Two interns and a nurse are interrogated by American MPs for their involvement in an atrocity during the war: the vivisections of a downed American air crew.
Call from DarknessCall from Darkness · 1981
Call from Darkness
6.31981
MovieThrillerDrama
Keiko Inagawa pays a visit to neurologist Aizawa about her fiancé Tatsuo Tamura. A mysterious case involving the disappearance of Tatsuo’s three brothers, one after the other, is yet to be resolved and now Tatsuo, seized with the idea that he too may disappear, has had a nervous breakdown. Aizawa suggests that Tatsuo recount his dreams as a means of solving the mystery, since human beings have an instinct that foretells the near future in the form of a dream. Keiko and Tatsuo eventually discover that the three disappearances have a strange connection…
Deep RiverDeep River · 1995
Deep River
7.31995
MovieDrama
A group of Japanese tourists try to forget their pasts and find themselves in India.
The Girl I AbandonedThe Girl I Abandoned · 1969
The Girl I Abandoned
9.01969
MovieDrama
Tsutomu Yoshioka, a Tokyo office worker, is engaged to Mariko, the niece of his company's president. But Yoshioka has a crisis of consence when he remembers his former love Mitsu, a rural girl whom he met and later left while in college. Shimako, a former friend, persuades Yoshioka to meet with Mitsu while she plots to blackmail Yoshioka by photographing the meeting to break up Mariko and Yoshioka.
Hymn to a Tired ManHymn to a Tired Man · 1968
Hymn to a Tired Man
8.21968
MovieDrama
During WWII, Zensaku, middle-aged and deaf in one ear, learns that his son has fallen for the daughter of a war officer responsible for the maiming.

Filmography

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To LoveTo Love · 1997
To Love
6.71997
MovieDramaRomance
Mitsu works in a factory and has a crush on Tsutomu, a young man she met on the Tokyo streets. One day the two go out, and after some deception, Tsutomu manages to have his way with her. Coming from a broken home, he is frightened by love, so he cruelly allows her to wake up alone. A month passes and a more grown-up Tsutomu returns. The lovers joyously reunite and move in together. All is blissful until both notice a strange sore on Mitsu's arm. The doctors diagnose it as leprosy. Without telling Tsutomu, Mitsu checks into a leper sanitarium. Hanging out with society's pariahs gives her much insight. She discovers the old lepers to be wonderful people. In turn, Mitsu becomes their source of joy and renewed hope. Still, she misses her Tsutomu. One day, the doctors inform her that they erred and that the sore is not leprosy. Happily she heads back to her true love until she realizes with a guilty pang that to return to him would mean unhappiness for her newfound friends

Novel

The Midday DevilThe Midday Devil · 2017
The Midday Devil
2017
SeriesDrama
A young man named Nanba Masato is an aspiring writer. One day, he feels sharp pain in his stomach and rushes into a hospital. There, Okouchi Yoko, a doctor in a white lab coat, comes in to treat him. Despite the severe pain, it helps Masato to feel a little better since Yoko cares for him like a sweet Venus. After successful surgery, Masato is hospitalized for a while. He is actually glad to be looked after by Yoko. But he never knew this was just the very beginning of the road to despair and destruction. Various strange things happen one after another at the hospital. A mysterious note is found in a back of a drawer in a sickroom. A medical accident of an elderly woman with dementia occurs. A girl is in near-death condition by an unknown allergy. A patient's condition worsens by a false medical records… You can't help but wonder, are these really just accidents?

Novel