Between Escape and Creation - Ryo Hanmura and the Birth of Japanese Science Fiction in the 1960s (1962)

Between Escape and Creation - Ryo Hanmura and the Birth of Japanese Science Fiction in the 1960s (1962)

In 1962, at the first Megsurinoki Convention, the first Japanese SF convention symbolizing the dawn of Japanese SF, while many participants earnestly described their encounters with SF, Ryo Hanmura told the audience, "My wife ran away from me, and by the way, I ran away from SF," which made the audience laugh. Science fiction, which was beginning to be accepted as a fusion of science and fantasy in the midst of a period of rapid economic growth, had not yet established itself as a literary genre, and writers of the time were searching for a new literary genre by turning their own pain and confusion into creative works. While humorous, Hanmura's words highlight the ambivalent nature of escapism and creativity, symbolizing the "other reality" of science fiction. His worldview, which would later be used in such works as "Sengoku JSDF," was imbued with the power to intersect reality and the otherworldly. This convention was the starting point for the development of the unique spi
rit of Japanese science fiction that was "not too serious.