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} }) </script> </div> </form> </fieldset> <article class="entryArticle content STeditorial"> <header class="entryHeader icon-author"> <h1 class="entryTitle">Hoshi Shinichi </h1> </header><p class='tagLine'>Entry updated 12 September 2022. Tagged: Author, Fan.</p><div class="browsingBtns"> <span> <input class="button PNI previous" type="button" onclick="window.location.href='/next.php?id=p&entry=hoshi_shinichi'" value="Prev" /> </span> <span> <input class="button PNI next" type="button" onclick="window.location.href='/next.php?&entry=hoshi_shinichi'" value="Next" /> </span> <span> <input class="button PNI incoming" type="button" onclick="window.location.href='/incoming.php?entry=hoshi_shinichi'" value="About This Entry" title="What links to the entry; contributor initials explained; how to cite; other information" /> </span> <span><input class="button PNI" type="button" value="Checklist" onclick="window.location.hash='chklst'" ></span> <span><input class="button PNI" type="button" value="Alpha" onclick="window.location.href='/chron.php?id=hoshi_shinichi&abc'" ></span> <span><input class="button PNI" type="button" value="Chron" onclick="window.location.href='/chron.php?id=hoshi_shinichi'" ></span> </div> <p>(1926-1997) One of the pioneers of Japanese sf, who began publishing work of genre interest with "Sekisutora" ["Sextra"] for <a href="/entry/uchujin">Uchūjin</a> #2 in 1957. Hoshi, who specialized in the short-short story, became the first full-time sf writer in <a href="/entry/japan">Japan</a>. His stories were influential on the younger generation, and he was largely responsible for the popularization of sf and its way of thinking. He developed a writing style that gives an sf flavour even to his non-sf works, and which is appropriate to his attacks on everyday values. Although he was sometimes called the Japanese Ray <a href="/entry/bradbury_ray">Bradbury</a>, his writings are more satirical than poetic: comparison with Fredric <a href="/entry/brown_fredric">Brown</a> might be closer to the mark. A graduate of Tokyo University, he helped Takumi <a href="/entry/shibano_takumi">Shibano</a> found <a href="/entry/uchujin">Uchūjin</a> ["Cosmic Dust"], the first Japanese <a href="/entry/fanzine">Fanzine</a>, in 1957. His best known story is "Bokko-chan" (1958; trans under same title June 1963 <a href="/entry/fsf">F&SF</a>), which was assembled in <i>Jinzo Bijin</i> ["A Man-Made Beauty"] (coll <b>1961</b>). By 1983 he had published over 1000 stories, including two sf/fantasy novels: <i>Muma No Hyoteki</i> ["Target of Nightmare"] (<b>1964</b>), in which a ventriloquist is controlled by his doll, and <i>Koe No Ami</i> ["The Voice Net"] (<b>1970</b>), in which – anticipating later tales of <a href="/entry/internet">Internet</a> <a href="/entry/paranoia">Paranoia</a> – a telephone network becomes conscious and takes control of human society. Other works included historical novellas, collections of unconventional short essays, and fictionalized documentaries including biographies of his father and grandfather. An important multivolume retrospective is <i>Hoshi Shinichi No Sakuhinshu</i> ["The Complete Works of Shinichi Hoshi"] (coll <b>1974</b>; cut trans Bernard Susser and Tomoyoshi Genkawa as <i>The Spiteful Planet and Other Stories</i> <b>1978</b> Tokyo); other volumes of stories in translation include <i>Nokku No Ot Ga</i> (coll <b>xxxx</b>; trans Stanleigh H Jones as <i>There Was a Knock</i> <b>1984</b> Tokyo), collecting short-short stories. <i>The Cost of Kindness and Other Fabulous Tales</i> (coll trans Marianne McDonald and Torajiro Mori <b>1985</b>) assembles various tales.</p> <p>Hoshi vetoed media versions of his work, but after his death a number of his stories were adapted as the <a href="/entry/anime">Anime</a> series <a href="/entry/kimagure_robot">Kimagure Robot</a> (<i>2004</i>; vt <i>The Capricious Robot</i>). [TSh]</p> <h3 id="chklst">Shinichi Hoshi</h3> <p><b>born</b> Tokyo: 1926</p> <p><b>died</b> Tokyo: 30 December 1997</p> <p><b>works</b></p> <p><input type="button" value="Alphabetical" class="button PNI" onclick="window.location.href='/chron.php?id=hoshi_shinichi&abc'"> <input type="button" value="Chronological" class="button PNI" onclick="window.location.href='/chron.php?id=hoshi_shinichi'"></p> <ul class="x"> <li><em><a href="/sfeshop.php?field-keywords=Jinzo+Bijin&field-author=Hoshi+Shinichi" class="link-amazon" target="_blank">Jinzo Bijin</a></em> ["A Man-Made Beauty"] (xxxx, <b>1961</b>) [coll: binding unknown/]</li> <li><em><a href="/sfeshop.php?field-keywords=Muma+No+Hyoteki&field-author=Hoshi+Shinichi" class="link-amazon" target="_blank">Muma No Hyoteki</a></em> ["Target of Nightmare"] (xxxx, <b>1964</b>) [binding unknown/]</li> <li><em><a href="/sfeshop.php?field-keywords=Koe+No+Ami&field-author=Hoshi+Shinichi" class="link-amazon" target="_blank">Koe No Ami</a></em> ["The Voice Net"] (xxxx, <b>1970</b>) [binding unknown/]</li> <li><em><a href="/sfeshop.php?field-keywords=Hoshi+Shinichi+No+Sakuhinshu&field-author=Hoshi+Shinichi" class="link-amazon" target="_blank">Hoshi Shinichi No Sakuhinshu</a></em> ["The Complete Works of Shinichi Hoshi"] (xxxx, <b>1974</b>) [coll: binding unknown/] <ul class="x"> <li><em><a href="/sfeshop.php?field-keywords=The+Spiteful+Planet+and+Other+Stories&field-author=Hoshi+Shinichi" class="link-amazon" target="_blank">The Spiteful Planet and Other Stories</a></em> (Tokyo: The Japan Times, <b>1978</b>) [cut trans by Bernard Susser and Tomoyoshi Genkawa of the above: pb/]</li> </ul></li> <li><em><a href="/sfeshop.php?field-keywords=Tales+of+Japanese+Science+Fiction+and+Fantasy&field-author=Hoshi+Shinichi" class="link-amazon" target="_blank">Tales of Japanese Science Fiction and Fantasy</a></em> (St Lucia, Queensland: University of Queensland Press, <b>1981</b>) [binding unknown/]</li> <li><i>Nokku No Ot Ga</i> (xxxx) [binding unknown/] <ul class="x"> <li><em><a href="/sfeshop.php?field-keywords=There+Was+a+Knock&field-author=Hoshi+Shinichi" class="link-amazon" target="_blank">There Was a Knock</a></em> (Tokyo: Kadansha International, <b>1984</b>) [trans by Stanleigh H Jones of the above: pb/]</li> </ul></li> <li><i>Kimagure Robotto</i> (xxxx) [binding unknown/] <ul class="x"> <li><em><a href="/sfeshop.php?field-keywords=The+Capricious+Robot&field-author=Hoshi+Shinichi" class="link-amazon" target="_blank">The Capricious Robot</a></em> (Tokyo: Kadansha International, <b>1986</b>) [trans by Robert Matthew of the above: pb/]</li> </ul></li> <li><em><a href="/sfeshop.php?field-keywords=The+Cost+of+Kindness+and+Other+Fabulous+Tales&field-author=Hoshi+Shinichi" class="link-amazon" target="_blank">The Cost of Kindness and Other Fabulous Tales</a></em> (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: C and P Press, <b>1985</b>) [coll: trans by Marianne McDonald and Torajiro Mori of various stories: pb/]</li> <li><i>Enu Shi No Yuenchi</i> (xxxx) [binding unknown/] <ul class="x"> <li><em><a href="/sfeshop.php?field-keywords=A+Bag+of+Surprises&field-author=Hoshi+Shinichi" class="link-amazon" target="_blank">A Bag of Surprises</a></em> (Tokyo: Kadansha International, <b>1989</b>) [trans by Stanleigh H Jones of the above: pb/]</li> </ul></li> <li><em><a href="/sfeshop.php?field-keywords=The+God+of+Television+Twenty+Short+Stories&field-author=Hoshi+Shinichi" class="link-amazon" target="_blank">The God of Television: Twenty Short Stories</a></em> (Singapore: Asiapac, <b>1989</b>) [coll: trans by Robert Matthew of various stories: pb/]</li> <li><em><a href="/sfeshop.php?field-keywords=The+God+of+Fortune&field-author=Hoshi+Shinichi" class="link-amazon" target="_blank">The God of Fortune</a></em> (Singapore: Asiapac, <b>1991</b>) [coll: trans by Robert Matthew of various stories: pb/]</li> </ul> <p><b>links</b></p> <ul class="x"> <li><a target="_blank" href="https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?11212">Internet Speculative Fiction Database</a></li> </ul> <p><b>previous versions of this entry</b></p> <ul><li><a href='https://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/hoshi_shinichi' target='_blank'>Internet Archive</a></li></ul><br /><br /></article></div> <div class="sideBarsWrapper"> <div class="sideBarsColsWrapper clearfix"> <div class="column sideBar12 clearfix"> <div class="columnForm"><aside id="blogFeed" class="widget"> <div class="content STeditorial clearfix"> <h2>Recently visited entries<span style="background:url(/images/thingSFE2.png) !important"></span></h2><ul style='width: 50%; 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