Juran Hisao

Juran Hisao (久生十蘭); (6 April 1902 - 6 October 1957) was the pen-name of a Japanese author of popular fiction in Showa period Japan. His real name was Masao Abe (阿部 正雄).

Early life
Jūran was a native of Hakodate on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaidō. While working for the Hakodate branch of the Mainichi Shimbun newspaper, he wrote poetry and drama his spare time.

In 1926, he moved to Tokyo, where he convinced the playwright, Kunio Kishida, to accept him as a student. In 1929, he went to Paris, France to study physics and at the same time, he was able to learn about the French theater from the actor-director, Charles Dullin.

Career
On returning to Japan, he obtained a post as an assistant stage director with the New Tsukiji Theater. However, his interests were very broadly based, and he also contributed mystery stories to the magazine Shin Seinen ("New Youth"). His fiction included the dark detective story Kinro ("Golden Wolf"). His short story, Suzuki Mondo, won the 11th Naoki Prize in 1951, and his novelette Boshizo, earlier serialized in the Mainichi Shimbun, gained him first place in a New York Herald Tribune short story contest in 1955. Hisao Juran was a pioneer in the use of black humor in Japanese literature. His works reflect his extensive knowledge of a wide range of subjects, and displayed extraordinary skills, and range from mystery tales to humor, and both historical and contemporary settings.

Hisao Juran was married to the niece of Osaragi Jiro's wife. In 1943, he was drafted into the Imperial Japanese Navy and sent to the South Pacific. He returned safely in 1944. He lived in Kamakura, Kanagawa prefecture from 1947 until his death of esophageal cancer at the age of 55. His grave is at the Zaimokuza Reien Cemetery in Kamakura.