Popular playwright, peace activist Hisashi Inoue dies at 75+

TOKYO, April 11 Kyodo -
Popular playwright Hisashi Inoue died of lung cancer Friday evening, his family
said Sunday. He was 75.
Inoue was also a pacifist and was known for his activities promoting peace as
one of the nine founding members of the Article 9 Association.
After starting his career as a writer while he was a student at Sophia
University in Tokyo, Inoue won numerous literary prizes, including the Naoki
Award for his novel ''Tegusari Shinju'' (Handcuffed Double Suicide) in 1972,
while launching his own theater company ''Komatsuza'' in 1984.
Based on his experiences of war, Inoue was an outspoken antiwar and antinuclear
activist, and in 2004, he established the pro-constitutional group with other
intellectuals, such as the Nobel Prize winner Kenzaburo Oe.
He was designated as a Person of Cultural Merit in 2004 and became a member of
the Japan Art Academy in 2009. From 2003 to 2007, he served as the 14th
president of the Japan P.E.N. Club.
His works include ''Chichi to Kuraseba'' (Living with Father), a play about a
father and his daughter who experienced the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, and
''Kirikirijin'' (The People of Kirikiri).
He also wrote the lyrics for several theme songs for TV animation programs,
including Moomin.
After being diagnosed with lung cancer last October, he underwent anticancer
drug treatment.
==Kyodo