# Unno Juza

Sano Shōichi (佐野 昌一, December 26, 1897 - May 17, 1949), know by his pen name Unno Jūza (海野 十三), was a Japanese novelist who was the founding father of Japanese science fiction.

## Biography

Unno was born on December 26, 1897, in Tokushima, Tokushima Prefecture, to a family of medical doctors. He studied at the Waseda University.
In 1928 he debuted as a writer with the novel The case of the mysterious death in the electric bath (Denkifuro no kaishijiken).
During the Pacific War he wrote a great number of science-fiction novels, remaining in Tokyo throughout the air raids. Japan's defeat in World War II was for him a hard blow, and Unno spent the last years in his life in a state of deep depression.
His scientific work was influenced by that of Nikola Tesla.
Unno died on May 17, 1949, aged 51.

## Legacy

Captain Jūzō Okita of Space Battleship Yamato was named as a tribute to Unno.

## Works

* Aru Uchū-jin no Himitsu (ある宇宙塵の秘密)
* Angō Onban Jiken (暗号音盤事件)
* Ikiteiru Chō (生きている腸)
* Uchū Joshū Dai Ichi-gō (宇宙女囚第一号)
* Uchū Sentai (宇宙戦隊)
* Uchū Senpei (宇宙尖兵)
* Uchū no Maigo (宇宙の迷子)
* Unno Jūza Haisen Nikki (海野十三敗戦日記)
* Ei Hondo Jōriku Sakusen no Zen'ya (英本土上陸作戦の前夜)
* Osoroshiki Tsuya (恐しき通夜)
* Gaikotsukan (骸骨館)
* Kaisei Gan (怪星ガン)
* Kaitei Toshi (海底都市)
* Kagi kara Nukedashita Onna (鍵から抜け出した女)
* Kaban Rashikunai Kaban (鞄らしくない鞄)
* Kayakusen (火薬船)
* Kifutsudō Jiken (鬼仏洞事件)
* Kyōryū-tei no Bōken (恐竜艇の冒険)
* Kyōryū-tō (恐竜島)
* Kinzoku Ningen (金属人間)
* Kūchū Hyōryū Isshūkan (空中漂流一週間)
* Gun'yōzame (軍用鮫)
* Kōun no Kuroko (幸運の黒子)
* Kokusai Satsujin-dan no Hōkai (国際殺人団の崩壊)
* Sankakkei no Kyōfu (三角形の恐怖)
* Sanju-nen Go no Sekai (三十年後の世界)
* Sannin no Sōseiji (三人の双生児)
* Jigoku Kaidō (地獄街道)
* Jūhachi-ji no Ongaku-yoku (十八時の音楽浴)
* Shōnen Tanteichō (少年探偵長)
* Jinzō Ningen Efu-shi (人造人間エフ氏)
* Sekigaisen Otoko (赤外線男)
* Sen-nen Go no Sekai (千年後の世界)
* Dai Uchū Enseitai (大宇宙遠征隊)
* Dai Go Hyōgaki (第五氷河期)
* Chikyū Yōsai (地球要塞)
* Chikyū wo Nerau Mono (地球を狙う者)
* Chichūma (地中魔)
* Chō-Ningen X-go (超人間X号)
* Tōmei Neko (透明猫)
* Tokkyo Tawan Ningen Hōshiki (特許多腕人間方式)
* 2000 nen Sensō (二、〇〇〇年戦争)
* Nō no Naka no Reijin (脳の中の麗人)
* Hitotsubokan (一坪館)
* Hyōgaki no Kaijin (氷河期の怪人)
* Fushigikoku Tanken (ふしぎ国探検)
* Fushū (俘囚)
* Hōsō Sareta Yuigon (放送された遺言)
* Maruamru Jū (○○獣)
* Miezaru Teki (見えざる敵)
* Yūsei Shokumin Setsu (遊星植民説)
* Yūrei-sen no Himitsu (幽霊船の秘密)
* Yohōshō Kokuji (予報省告示)
* Reikon Dai Jū-gō no Himitsu (霊魂第十号の秘密)
* Jinzō Ningen Satsugai Jiken (人造人間殺害事件)

### Utei Tenku Series

Utei Tenku Series (烏啼天駆シリーズ):
* Kizoku wa Shiharau (奇賊は支払う)
* Shinzō Tōnan (心臓盗難)
* Kizoku Higan (奇賊悲願)
* Angō no Yakuwari (暗号の役割)
* Surikae Kaiga (すり替え怪画)

### Under alias of Oka Kyūjūrō

* Yukima (雪魔)
* Chikyū Hakkyō Jiken (地球発狂事件)

### English Translations

* Fast Forward Japan: Stories by the Founding Father of Japanese Science Fiction [includes: Eighteen O'Clock Music Bath (十八時の音楽浴), The Theory of Planetary Colonization, The World in One Thousand Years, Four-Dimensional Man, Mysterious Spatial Rift, The Living Intestine, Crematoria, The Last Broadcast, Adventures of the Dinosaur-Craft] (ISBN 978-1737318217)
* The Secret of the Cosmic Dust (ある宇宙塵の秘密). Translated by Till Weingärtner. The Irish Journal of Asian Studies Vol.7, 2021 (ISSN 2009-8448).