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© Thomson Reuters 2023.Nobel prize winner, activist Kenzaburo Oe dies at 88
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© Thomson Reuters 2023.
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Spitfire
A great man and a life well lived.
Because of that I am sure he will RIP.
After I read his books I realized not all Japanese were like Abe and Takaichi.
A true legend.
browny1
Can't be too sad for a mans passing at 88.
But Oe as an intellectual giant of post-war Japan, together with his immense creativity and powerful activism, he will be sorely missed.
Never shied away from confronting the establishment esp the right wing and incumbent politicians.
Never afraid to speak his mind.
I first knew of him many years ago when I read his novel Nip the buds, Shoot the kids.
The story has never left me.
Japan needs Minds like Oe's as it navigates the coming decades.
Rakuraku
I can imagine he was very sad looking at the recent resurgence of militarism.
Dr.Cajetan Coelho
Respectful farewell to Nobel prize winner, activist Kenzaburo Oe.
Jimizo
Literature is pearls before swine with me although I did read ‘A Personal Matter’. Very powerful book. One you don’t forget.
Not afraid to rock the boat either with his opinions.
Sounds like a life well lived.
wallace
Kenzaburo Oe was just 10 when the war ended.
Fredrik
Amazing!
I remember when he received the Nobel prize in my county.
wallace
All life comes to pass. A life lived and enjoyed. Peacefully gone without suffering. His works will live on.
Bob Fosse
"I do not recognize any authority, any value, higher than democracy."
A sadly lacking ideal that could have avoided much of the abhorrent behaviour in human history.
Thank you and rest well Oe sama.
jeancolmar
Kenzaburo Oe was a great writer, but above that he was a fearless fighter for democracy and peace. He is sorely missed.
u_s__reamer
Ten years old when Japan was defeated in World War II, Oe was scarred by his memories, which included being asked in school every day if he was willing to die for the emperor and feeling shame when realizing in bed at night that he wasn't.
Child abuse comes in many forms, not least from government propaganda and gaslighting.
One of my treasured memories is when I attended an Oe lecture and had a chance to speak with him, a Japanese who had succeeded in escaping the mental chains of the narrow nationalism he had imbibed as a defenseless child, and who humbly wore his humanity on his sleeve. Oe has now left us, but his books will continue to inspire the best of Japan to make common cause with others to build a better world for Hikari and other children. RIP a Japanese writer who towered above all the mindless kitsch and pulp of modern Japanese pop culture.
wallace
The post is about the passing of a Nobel Peace Laureate. Appreciate what he achieved, which is a great deal, not what he didn't.
Since 1949, there have been 29 Japanese laureates for the Nobel Prize.
Muhammad Nurul Islam
We, at the Nippon Academy, Chattogram, Bangladesh are sad at the demise of the outstanding person. Kenzaburo Oe shall be remembered by many for very long time. We offer our sincerest condolences to the bereaved near and dear ones.
Stephen Chin
When one's only son is mentally-handicapped must have been a destiny in which no man in the world would wish to face. Yet Kenzaburo faced his his own and, and, his son Hikari's unfortunate destiny with a hero's bravery which profoundly affected his writing to win him the Nobel Literature Prize.
William77
Mr.Kenzaburo was a very wise man and a superior mind,for sure his departure from this world is a great loss for the collectivity.
Dani Bastien
A life well lived for a great man, both as a writer and as an activist. I've read some of his works. He will be sorely missed. May he rest in peace. :'(
CKAI
Same. All those words above.
El héroe!
Designer 02
RIP, condolences to the family
Toblerone
Looking at how the arts and science in Japan are no longer being supported it can be expected that the rates of Nobel prizes from Japanese people will keep decreasing, which is a loss for the country
Well, a Nobel prize isnt what it used to be. Its getting up there with the Oscars for irrelevancy.
Toblerone
Japan bore "some" responsibility for the war, he said in a 2014 interview.
You dont say.
Toblerone
Japan bore "some" responsibility for the war, he said in a 2014 interview.
Thats one interesting “peace activist”.
Yrral
He did not bow too the emperor
virusrex
Looking at how the arts and science in Japan are no longer being supported it can be expected that the rates of Nobel prizes from Japanese people will keep decreasing, which is a loss for the country but a win for those countries that make the advancement of humanity a real priority.
Clay
Thank you for sharing, that's re-assuring he wasn't a closet nationalist fraud and yes, modern societies a cesspool of selfishness and cowardice with a LARGE dose of dishonesty mixed in for good measure but let's all hope and pray more greats are on the way ASAP!!!
JeffLee
"Some," eh. And that's the thinking of an outspoken "Pacificist." Makes one wonder how most Japanese view their country's responsibility for the war it instigated. Maybe "none"?