11 February
Renowned Japanese author Taichi Sakaiya, who also served in key government posts, died of multiple organ failure on Friday. He was 83.
Sakaiya was born in Osaka City, western Japan, in 1935. After graduating from the University of Tokyo with a degree in economics, he started working for the trade and industry ministry in 1960.He played a key role in organizing the 1970 World Expo in Osaka. He was also in charge of the 1975 Expo in Okinawa.
Sakaiya made his foray into writing in 1975 while he was still working for the government. His first novel, "Yudan!" depicts an oil crisis. He published another novel on the postwar baby boomer generation the following year and the book became a bestseller.
He resigned as a government official in 1978. He wrote many historical novels, and some of them were made into TV dramas.Sakaiya served as the head of the Economic Planning Agency. He was also appointed as Special Adviser to the Cabinet in 2013 under the administration of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
He had been hospitalized since last month.
-NHK
