ENDO SHUSAKU

born March 27, 1923, Tokyo, Japan died Sept. 29, 1996, Tokyo Japanese novelist noted for his examination of the relationship between East and West through a unique Christian perspective. Endo became a Roman Catholic at age 11 with the encouragement of his mother and an aunt. At Keio University he majored in French literature (B.A., 1949), a subject he studied from 1950 to 1953 at the University of Lyon in France. His first collections of fiction, Shiroi hito and Kiiroi hito (both 1955; White Man and Yellow Man), indicate the direction of most of his later fiction: they contrast Japanese and Western experience and perspectives. In Umi to dokuyaku (1957; The Sea and Poison), he examines the Japanese sense of morality via a war story about Japanese doctors performing a vivisection on a downed American pilot. One of Endo's most powerful novels, Chimmoku (1966; Silence), is a fictionalized account of Portuguese priests who traveled to Japan and the subsequent slaughter of their Japanese converts. This novel and Samurai (1980; The Samurai)a fascinating account of a samurai's journey on behalf of his shogun to open trade with Mexico, Spain, and Romeare considered his best writing, showing the complexities of the interactions between cultures as well as presenting a supple and well-told narrative. Endo's other extended fiction includes Kazan (1959; Volcano), Kuchibue o fuku toki (1974; When I Whistle), Sukyandaru (1986; Scandal), and a number of comic novels. He also wrote short stories, drama, essays, and a biography.