Osamu Souda
Author Osamu Soda, known for his long-selling novel “Our Seven Days War,” passed away on the 8th at a hospital in Nagoya due to pneumonia. He is 95 years old.
The funeral and memorial service were held by close relatives.
Mr. Muneta was born in Setagaya Ward, Tokyo. He lost his father at the age of eight and moved to Aichi Prefecture, where his mother’s parents lived. After graduating from the Nihon University College of Art, he worked as an editor before making his debut as a writer in 1979 with his novel “Unknown Seas.” This work was nominated for the Naoki Prize.
His most famous work, “Our Seven Days War,” was published in 1985 and features junior high school students barricading themselves in an abandoned factory in order to resist management education. Three years later, it was made into a movie starring Rie Miyazawa, and it became a huge hit. Since then, he has continued to write as part of the “Bokura” series, with approximately 50 works and a cumulative circulation of over 20 million copies.
“Our Mystery Train” (1993), which was based on a real girl with leukemia, received a great response, with more than 1,000 letters of encouragement received from readers who answered the call at the end of the book, and in 2018. In the “Children’s General Election” conducted by Poplar Publishing, “Our Seven Days War” came in 8th place. The ranking of works that have been published for over 30 years has become a hot topic.