My "Proof of Existence" - My Novel Japan, Year Zero, by Ishihara Shintarō
"I will not be satisfied if I do not write such a series of works as proof of my existence, no, non-existence as an author."
My “Proof of Existence” - My Novel Japan, Year Zero1
Ishihara Shintarō
Japan, Year Zero is my most recent novel serialized over the course of a little more than two years from January 1960 in The Literary World2. In terms of series, it can be called the sequel to my first full-length novel, Fissure3.
Despite its volume of 1500 pages and 26 issues of serialization, I think that I was unable to fully write out what I sought to write in that work. Or rather, I already knew before turning my hand to this work that this subject is not something that can be fully written out by anyone’s hand.