Suzuki Kôji (1957 - )

Date of Birth: 1957
Place of Birth: Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan
Date of Death:
Place of Death:
Also Known As: Kouji Suzuki

Until Summer 1991, Suzuki Kôji was a relatively obscure writer with little of any note to his credit. That changed with the release of Ringu in June of that year, a book with was not only a smash hit but which created a whole new sub-genre in Japan, dubbed "Psycho-Horror" and which earned Suzuki the epithet "the Japanese Stephen King."

Graduating from Keio University, Suzuki's promise as a writer was first hinted at when he won the annual Fantasy Novel Award in 1990 for Rakuen, but it wasn't until the release of Ringu that he enjoyed any real success. The novel was a massive hit in Japan and has since been translated into Chinese, French, German and Thai though not yet, sadly, in English. It's further popularity was ensured in 1998 when Hideo Nakata used the novel as the basis for a film which became an international cult hit, though the book (which is significantly different to the film) had already been adapted into a successful TV series in 1995.

The success of the Ringu novel promted Suzuki to write several follow-ups: Rasen was released at the end of July 1995, Loop at the end of January 1998 and an anthology of three short stories set in the Ringu universe, The Birthday (comprising Sora ni ukabu hitsugi, Basudaai and Lemonheart) was published in February 1999.

Although Suzuki became very popular and successful on the back of the Ringu stories and subsequent media adaptations, it wasn't all plain sailing. In the early years, he was writing while staying at home looking after his children, his school teacher wife becoming the family's main earner. This was an unusual set-up for a Japanese family and later Suzuki would write a popular non-fiction book detailing his experiences as a "house-husband."
KEVIN LYONS

* = television

1995
Ringu: Kanzen-ban (novel) *

1998
Rasen (novel)

Ringu (novel)
O Chamado - Brazilian title
El círculo - Argentinian title
Ring - Das Original - German DVD title
Ring - O Chamado - Brazilian television title
Ring - French / UK / US title
The Ring - Danish title
The ring: El círculo - Spanish title

1999
Rasen
Ring 2: Spiral
The Spiral

Ring Virus (novel)
Ring

Ringu: Saishuu-shô (novel)
Ring: The Final Chapter

Ringu 2 (novel)
Ring 2 - French / UK title
The Ring 2 - Danish title

2000
Ringu 0: Baasudei (short story)
Ring 0 - O Chamado - Brazilian title
Ring 0 - Brazilian television title
Ring 0: Birthday – UK title

2002
Honogurai mizu no soko kara (novel)
Dark Water – International title

The Ring (novel)
El aro – Mexican title
O Aviso – Portugese title
Le cercle - The ring - French title
Le cercle - French / French Canadian title
O Chamado - Brazilian title
A kör – Hungarian title
Krug – Croatian title
La llamada - Argentinian title
Ring – Finnish / German title
La señal - Spanish title
The ring - La señal - Spanish title
The Ring - O Aviso – Portugese title

2004
Dark Water (novel)

The Ring 2 (novel (Ringu))