A Lost Paradise
Author	Junichi Watanabe
Original title	失楽園 (Shitsurakuen?)
Translator	Juliet Winters Carpenter
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese
Genre(s)	Novel
Publisher	Kodansha
Publication date	1997
Published in English	2000
Pages	372 pp
ISBN	4770023243

A Lost Paradise (失楽園, Shitsurakuen^?) is 1997 novel by Japanese author Junichi Watanabe. It tells the story of a 54-year-old married former magazine editor, his affair with a 37-year-old married typesetter and their double-suicide. The couple, Kūki an Rinko, are modeled after the famous case of Sada Abe.^[1][2][3]

The book became a bestseller sensation in Japan and throughout Asia, selling 3 million copies in Japan. Shitsurakuen became a slang word for having an affair.^[2][4] It was first serialized in the business newspaper Nihon Keizai Shimbun in 1995.^[3][5][6] The book was made into a film and a tv drama the same year.^[2] The film Shitsurakuen was nominated for 13 Japan Academy Prizes winning one with Hitomi Kuroki for lead actress.^[7]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Shitsurakuen at the Internet Movie Database (film)
• Shitsurakuen at JDorama.com (tv drama)

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