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A Lost Paradise

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A Lost Paradise
AuthorJunichi Watanabe
Original title失楽園 (Shitsurakuen)
TranslatorJuliet Winters Carpenter
LanguageJapanese
GenreNovel
PublisherKodansha
Publication date
1997
Publication placeJapan
Published in English
2000
Pages372 pp
ISBN4770023243

A Lost Paradise (失楽園, Shitsurakuen) is 1997 novel by Japanese author Junichi Watanabe. It tells the story of a 54-year-old married former magazine editor, his affair with a 37-year-old married typesetter and their double-suicide. The couple, Kūki and Rinko, are modeled after the famous case of Sada Abe.[1][2][3]

The book became a bestseller throughout Asia, selling 3 million copies in Japan. Shitsurakuen became a slang word for having an affair.[2][4] It was first serialized in the business newspaper Nihon Keizai Shimbun in 1995.[3][5][6] The book was made into a film and a TV drama the same year.[2] The film Shitsurakuen was nominated for 13 Japan Academy Prizes winning one with Hitomi Kuroki for lead actress.[7]

References

  1. ^ Hall-Balduf, Susan (25 August 2000). "Review". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved 2009-05-26.
  2. ^ a b c West, Mark D. (2006). Secrets, sex, and spectacle: the rules of scandal in Japan and the United States. University of Chicago Press. p. 272. ISBN 0226894088. Retrieved 2009-05-26.
  3. ^ a b Marran, Christine L. (2007). Poison woman: figuring female transgression in modern Japanese culture. U of Minnesota Press. pp. 161–163. ISBN 0816647275. Retrieved 2009-05-26.
  4. ^ "The husband instruction manual". China Daily / eastday.com. 2004-06-07. Retrieved 2009-05-26.
  5. ^ Osedo, Hiroshi (2 February 2005). "Lust and seduction top stock news". The Courier-Mail. Retrieved 2009-05-26. ..Shitsurakuen (A Lost Paradise) appeared in...
  6. ^ Yao, Minji (28 June 2008). "The master of secret sin". Shanghai Daily. Retrieved 2009-05-26.
  7. ^ "第21回 日本アカデミー賞". Japan Academy Prize website (in Japanese & English). Japan Academy Prize Association. Retrieved 2009-05-26.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link) [dead link]