Birth of Kenzaburō Ōe

Kenzaburō Ōe was born on 31 January 1935 in Ōse. A Japanese novelist, Oe was among the most important writers of postwar Japan, and drew on the trauma of the atomic bombings and the generation shaped by defeat. His works include The Catch, A Personal Matter, inspired by the birth of his disabled son, and The Silent Cry. He explored themes of disability, nuclear weapons, the legacy of war and rural myth in complex, often dark prose. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1994, and declined a Japanese state honor the same year. He was also an activist, campaigning against nuclear power and against the revision of Japan's pacifist constitution.

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