 | birthplace    = Kita, Tokyo, Japan | deathdate     =  | deathplace    = Tokyo, Japan | occupation    = Writer }}  , pseudonym of  was a Japanese writer, playwright, photographer and inventor. Abe has been often compared to Franz Kafka and Alberto Moravia for his surreal, often nightmarish explorations of individuals in contemporary society and his modernist sensibilities.[ New York Times]''Abe Kobo: an Exploration of his Prose, Drama, and Theatre'' by Timothy Iles. Published by EPAP, 2000  Among the honors bestowed on him were the Akutagawa Prize in 1951 for ''The Crime of S. Karuma'', the Yomiuri Prize in 1962 for ''Woman in the Dunes'', and the Tanizaki Prize in 1967 for the play ''Friends''. Kenzaburō Ōe stated that Abe deserved the Nobel Prize in Literature, which he himself had won (Abe was nominated multiple times).  ==Biography== Abe was born in Kita, Tokyo and grew up in Mukden (now Shen-yang) in Manchuria. His father was a physician who taught at a local medical college. Abe returned to Japan in 1941 and began studies at Tokyo Imperial University in 1943. He graduated in 1948 with a medical degree, on the condition that he would not practice. He was first published as a poet in 1947 with Mumei shishu (&quot;Poems of an unknown poet&quot;) and as a novelist the following year with ''Owarishi michi no shirube ni'' (&quot;The Road Sign at the End of the Street&quot;), which established his reputation. Though he did much work as an avant-garde novelist and playwright, it was not until the publication of ''The Woman in the Dunes'' in 1962 that he won widespread international acclaim.  In the 1960s, he collaborated with Japanese director Hiroshi Teshigahara in the film adaptations of ''The Pitfall'', ''Woman in the Dunes'', ''The Face of Another'' and ''The Ruined Map''. In 1973, he founded an acting studio in Tokyo, where he trained performers and directed plays. He was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1977.  ==Bibliography== ===Novels=== {| class=&quot;wikitable&quot; |- | '''Year''' | '''Japanese Title''' | '''English Title''' | '''Translations available''' | '''Notes''' |- |1948 | Owarishi michi no shirube ni |At the Guidepost at the End of the Road | | |- |1954 |Kiga doumei |Starving Unions | | |- |1957 |Kemono tachi wa kokyou wo mezasu |Animals Are Going To Their Home | | |- |1959 |Dai yon kan pyouki |Inter Ice Age 4 |E. Dale Saunders | |- |1960 |Ishi no me |Stony Eyes | | |- |1962 |Suna no onna |Woman in the Dunes |E. Dale Saunders | |- |1964 |Tanin no kao |The Face of Another |E. Dale Saunders | |- |1965 |Enomoto takeaki |Takeaki Enomoto | | |- |1967 |Moetsukita chizu |The Ruined Map |E. Dale Saunders | |- |1973 |Hako otoko |The Box Man |E. Dale Saunders | |- |1977 |Mikkai |Secret Rendezvous |Juliet Winters Carpenter | |- |1984 |Hakobune sakura maru |The Ark Sakura |Juliet Winters Carpenter | |- |1991 |Kangaruu noto |Kangaroo Notebook |Maryellen Toman Mori | |- |1994 |Tobu otoko |The Flying Man | |Incomplete |- |}  ===Collected short stories=== {| class=&quot;wikitable&quot; |- | '''Year''' | '''Japanese Title''' | '''English Title''' | '''Translations available''' | '''Notes''' |- |1951 |Kabe |The Wall | | |- |1952 |Ueta hihu |The Starving Skin | | |- |1952 |Chinnyu sha |Intruders | | |- |1956 |R62R62 gou no hatumei |Inventions by R62 | | |- |1964 |Mukankei na shi |The Unrelated Death | | |- |1967 |Ningen sokkuri |The Double of Human Being | | |- |1968 |Yume no toubou | | | |- |1975 |Warau tsuki |The Laughing Moon | | |- |1993 | |Beyond the Curve |Juliet Winters Carpenter | |}  ===Plays=== {| class=&quot;wikitable&quot; |- | '''Year''' | '''Japanese Title''' | '''English Title''' | '''Translations available''' | '''Notes''' |- |1955 |Seifuku |Uniforms | | |- |1955 |Dorei gari |Slave Hunting | | |- |1955 |Kaisoku sen |The Speedy Ship | | |- |1958 |Yuurei wa koko ni iru |The Ghost Is Here |Donald Keene |Collected in ''Three Plays by Kobo Abe'' |- |1965 |Omae nimo tsumi ga aru |You are also guilty | | |- |1967 |Tomodachi |Friends |Donald Keene | |- |1967 |Enomoto takeaki |Takeaki Enomoto | | |- |1969 |Bou ni natta otoko |The Man Who Turned Into A Stick | | |- |1971 |Mihitsu no koi |Involuntary Homicide |Donald Keene |Collected in ''Three Plays by Kobo Abe'' |- |1971 |Gaido bukku |Guide Book | | |- |1973 |Ai no megane wa iro garasu |Loving Glasses Are Colored Ones | | |- |1974 |Midori iro no sutokkingu |Green Stockings |Donald Keene |Collected in ''Three Plays by Kobo Abe'' |- |1975 |Uē (Shin dorei gari) |Ue (Slave Hunting, New Version) | | |- |1976 |GUIDE BOOK II Annai nin |The Guide Man, GUIDE BOOK II | | |- |1978 |Hito sarai |Kidnap | | |- |1978 |S・S・Karuma shi no hanzai |The crime of S. Karuma | | |- |1979 |Kozou wa shinda |An Elephant Calf Is Dead | | |- |}  ===Poetry=== {| class=&quot;wikitable&quot; |- | '''Year''' | '''Japanese Title''' | '''English Title''' | '''Translations available''' | '''Notes''' |- |1947 |Mumei shishu |Poems of an unknown poet | | |- |}  