Masahiko Shimada

• Name — Masahiko Shimada • Native Name — 島田雅彦 • Born — 1961 • Occupation — Writer • Language — Japanese • Education — Tokyo University of Foreign Studies • Genre — Fiction • Awards — * Noma Literary New Face Prize • Izumi Kyōka Prize for Literature • Mainichi Publishing Culture Award

While studying Russian at Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, Shimada published a story called ' that was nominated for the Akutagawa Prize. The next year he won the 6th Noma Literary New Face Prize for his novel '. ' was published in Japan in 1989, with an English translation by Philip Gabriel following in 1992. In her review for The New York Times, Julia Just praised Dream Messenger as "proof that the Japanese novel is taking some fantastic turns in the hands of a new generation of writers." A 2017 retrospective review by Stephen Mansfield of The Japan Times described Dream Messenger as "existential novel that manages to remain firmly grounded within the parameters of a compelling narrative." The same year that Dream Messenger was published in English, Shimada won the 20th Izumi Kyōka Prize for Literature for Higan Sensei, a parody of Natsume Sōseki's novel Kokoro. Shimada wrote the libretto for Shigeaki Saegusa's opera Chūshingura, which Werner Herzog directed in its 1997 Tokyo debut. Shimada directed and performed in his own play Yurariumu (Ulalium) in 1990. His Japanese translation of Steve Erickson's Rubicon Beach appeared in 1991. In 2016 Shimada won the 70th Mainichi Publishing Culture Award for his novel Kyojin no hoshi.

• 1984: 6th Noma Literary New Face Prize • 1992: 20th Izumi Kyōka Prize for Literature • 2006: 17th Itō Sei Literature Prize • 2016: 70th Mainichi Publishing Culture Award • 2022: Medal with Purple Ribbon