Want China Times
Date: 2015-07-17
By: CNA and Staff Reporter

Akira Higashiyama, a Taiwanese-born writer who now lives in Japan, has won the semi-annual

Akira Higashiyama, July 16. (Photo/CNA)

Naoki Prize, a Japanese literary award for popular literature. He was honored at the award presentation ceremony Thursday evening in Tokyo.

The 47-year-old author, who is known as Wang Chen-hsu in Chinese, in his award-winning novel depicted a family saga based on the tragic stories of his grandfather during the years of hostile confrontation between the Nationalist Chinese government and the Chinese Communist Party.

He said that he chose Higashiyama as his Japanese forename, because the Kanji of the name (東山) is the inverse of his ancestral hometown of Shandong (山東) on the Chinese mainland. He chose the surname Akira, as the first Kanji in the name (彰) is the same as the Taiwanese city of Changhua (彰化) where he lived during his early childhood.     [FULL  STORY]