"My watch that you see here is a jewel made by a great craftsman called Breguet. It seems that it was once treasured by King Louis and Queen Marie-Antoinette. It’s a real masterpiece, of unequalled precision."
Jiro Asada
Tooi Tsutsuoto, 2002
Born in 1951, Jiro Asada has long been one of Japan’s most popular contemporary writers. After winning the “Eiji Yoshikawa” prize for young novelists in 1995 for Metoro ni notte, he went on to win the prestigious “Naoki” prize for Poppoya (The Railroad Man) in 1997 then in 2000 the “Renzaburo Shibata” prize for Mibu Gishi Den (When the Last Sword Is Drawn), his best-selling epic novel, which further enhanced his literary reputation.Many of his works were turned into screenplays, including Love Letter in 1998, The Railroad Man in 1999, Failan (inspired by Love Letter) and When The Last Sword Is Drawn in 2003.