Ashihei Hino

Ashihei Hino (火野 葦平, Hino Ashihei, 25 January 1907 – 24 January 1960) was a Japanese author, who wrote about military life during World War II. He was born in Wakamatsu (now Wakamatsu ward, Kitakyūshū) and in 1937 he received the prestigious Akutagawa Prize for one of his novels, Fun'nyōtan (糞尿譚, Tales of Excrement and Urine).[2] At that moment he was a soldier for the Japanese army in China. He then got promoted to the information corps and published numerous works about the daily lives of Japanese soldiers. It is for his war novels that he became famous during (and forgotten after) the war. His book Mugi to Heitai (麦と兵隊, Wheat and Soldiers) sold over a million copies.

Ashihei Hino
Hino in 1952
Born	(1907-01-25)January 25, 1907 Wakamatsu, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan
Died	January 24, 1960(1960-01-24) (aged 52)
Nationality	Japanese
Notable works	Fun'nyōtan ("Tales of Excrement and Urine")
Notable awards	Akutagawa Prize for Tales of Excrement and Urine
Relatives	Tetsu Nakamura (nephew)[1]

Hino committed suicide at the age of 53. His death was first reported to have been from a heart attack, but was later revealed by his family to have been from an overdose of sleeping pills.[3] His birthhouse can be visited today.