from Japanese Fiction Project

The Sociological SF of Issui Ogawa

Issui Ogawa has written more than a dozen novels and a collection of short stories. Fukkatsu no Chi (Land of Restoration; Hayakawa Shobo, 2004) is a novel in three volumes which, with its setting in the distant future on a remote planet long after the fall of the galactic empire, reminds me of SF classics like Dune, Citizen of the Galaxy, or The City and the Stars. The capital of this small world is hit by a tremendous earthquake that kills half a million people—one-tenth of its population—in an instant. The survivors struggle to rebuild the city and their lives, but opportunist politicians and military leaders scheme to seize power in a silent coup d’etat. The protagonist, a former assistant to a governor, is fighting against bureaucracy and politicians in an effort to organize the people to prepare for a second quake that is imminent. He is assisted by a niece of the royal family and by various unsung heroes including journalists, orphans, and lower-ranking military officers. The lost technology of the old Earth and the political game played out among the galactic powers give suspense and mystery to this post-apocalyptic human drama.
Ogawa often shows people responding to a disaster and explores the possibilities of grassroots democracy. He believes in corporate society and people’s solidarity. His faith in entrepreneurship is clearly shown in Dairoku Tairiku (The Sixth Continent; Hayakawa Shobo 2003), in which a private corporation builds a stable, well-functioning colony on the Antarctica of the moon. He loves anachronistic technology of the same kind seen in Hayao Miyazaki’s Porco Rosso/Crimson Pig—the kind that requires human care and hands-on maintenance. He writes about a gigantic steam locomotive in Shissou Issen Mairu Kyuko (Run, Thousand-Mile Express; Asahi Sonorama, 2005).