©Photo credit Takayuki Taneko

Koji Suzuki, the author known for horror novels such as “The Ring” and “Spiral”, passed away on the 8th at a hospital in Tokyo. He was 68.

Born in Hamamatsu City, Shizuoka Prefecture. He made his debut in 1990 with “Paradise”, which won the Excellence Award at the Japan Fantasy Novel Awards. His 1991 novel “Ringu” was adapted into a film that became a massive hit, helping to spark the “J-Horror boom.” His 1995 novel “Spiral” won the Eiji Yoshikawa Literary Newcomer Award, and his 2008 novel “Edge” received the Shirley Jackson Award in the United States.

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The film “The Ring” (directed by Hideo Nakata), featuring the iconic character ”Sadako,” starred Nanako Matsushima, Hiroyuki Sanada, and Miki Nakatani, while ”Spiral” (directed by Joji Iida) featured Koichi Sato, Nakatani, and Sanada, sparking a Japanese horror boom. In particular, the scene in which Sadako—with her long black hair and dressed in white—leaps out of the television screen left a lasting impression.

In 2002, “The Ring” remade in U.S, directed by Gore Verbinski, written by Ehren Kruger, and starring Naomi Watts, Martin Henderson, David Dorfman, and Brian Cox. The success of The Ring inspired American remakes of several other Asian and Japanese horror films, including The Grudge (2004) and Dark Water (2005).

In the United States, Koji Suzuki was introduced as “Japan’s Stephen King.”) “Dark Water”(Honogurai mizu no soko kara) was also adapted into a film and remade in the United States as “Dark Water”.

His hobby is working out. As a stay-at-home dad, he raises his children, and many of his essays focus on parenting.  He connects the macho image of fatherhood often seen in American movies to the male ideal of being a “strong father who protects his family,” arguing that “if you take machismo to its logical conclusion, you inevitably arrive at feminism.”