Hiroshi Aramata (荒俣 宏, Aramata Hiroshi, born July 12, 1947) is a Japanese author, polymath, critic, translator and specialist in natural history, iconography and cartography. His most popular novel was Teito Monogatari (Tale of the Capitol), which has sold over 5 million copies in Japan alone.
Biography
Aramata was born in Tokyo. As a child, he was an intense bibliophile and avid collector of old books.[2]
Following his entrance into middle school he was mentored by acclaimed translator Hirai Te'ichii (who was responsible for providing the Japanese translations of the complete works of Lafcadio Hearn as well as Bram Stoker's Dracula). After finishing high school, he immediately entered Keio University in 1966. He heavily studied Western/Oriental magic and occult sciences.[2] He graduated with a degree in law.
Although involved in a variety of projects, his main source of income was working as a full-time computer programmer and systems engineer. Circa 1979, he was browsing through old bookstores at Tokyo University in the Kanda District and rediscovered lost natural history collections by Oro Bakufu and Georges Cuvier. This helped to reignite his interest in the field of natural history.[2]
During this period Aramata participated in the development of the Heibonsha World Encyclopedia. While working on the Encyclopedia, he communicated with anthropologist Komatsu Kazuhiko, who communicated with him about many sources of strange and mysterious phenomena in Japanese folklore. Intrigued and excited by the information, Aramata decided that he wanted to write fiction as a way to share such esoteric knowledge with general readers.[5]
Thus as a small side project, he began writing a novel entitled Teito Monogatari that would incorporate elements of lesser known Eastern occult phenomena with recognizable modern Japanese history. When the novel was published in 1985, it became a bestseller and earned him a great amount of recognition and prestige.[2]
The success of Teito Monogatari provided him the necessary financial resources to fund his various natural history related compendiums. In 1987 he began publishing the Atlas Anima, which introduced the works of Conrad Gessner and Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon to modern Japanese readers. Subsequently, this work is credited with eventually leading to a rediscovery of Western Natural History in Japan.[6]
Since then, his reputation has grown increasingly popular in Japan as a man renowned for his encyclopedic knowledge on various subjects.[7] He is one of Japan's most prolific writers, having authored and translated over a hundred different books, both fictional and non-fictional.[8] His works span a wide range of topics from the occult to natural history, literary criticism, biology, cartography, and iconography. He is also known for his "Aramata Collection", a private library housing thousands of rare books from the 18th and 19th centuries.[2]
He was also an admirer and close friend of manga artist Shigeru Mizuki. Along with acclaimed yokai expert Natsuhiko Kyogoku, Aramata is a senior member of Shigeru Mizuki's Kwai (Scary Team) Organization.[12] He also was one of the producers of the "Oh! Mizuki Shigeru" Exhibition in Tokyo.[13]
In 2010, he served as General Producer of Nagoya's 400th anniversary festival.[14]
Works Translated into English
Birds of the World as painted by 19th-century artists (Crown Publishing, 1989, ISBN0517573741)
Fish of the world: a collection of 19th-century paintings (Portland House, 1990, ISBN0517030489)
"The Road" (short story) (Lair of the Hidden Gods: Vol 3, Kurodahan Press, 2006, ISBN490207513X)
Curve of the Hook: An Archaeologist in Polynesia (University of Hawaii Press, 2016, ISBN0824866231)
Selected works
Encyclopedia of Fantasy Authors (世界幻想作家事典 国書刊行会) (1979)
"Great Age of Natural History: Dream of Evolution" (「大博物学時代―進化と超進化の夢」) (1982) (ISBN4-87502-090-2)
Natural History of Illustrated Reference Books (図鑑の博物誌) (Libro Port, March 1984)
"History of Paranoiac Creation" (「パラノイア創造史」) (Chikuma Shobo, November 1985)
