Ken WAKASAKI (1947- ) novelized as many as 27 titles of Japan's popular anime, manga, and TV dramas from 1978 to 1990. As a multi-talented novelist who graduated from Tokyo University, he was able to create unique books retaining the very essence of the original visual works by using his knowledge of not only science, but also human beings both male and female. So, it was quite natural that the intelligent author became very popular among young Japanese from junior high school to high school students as soon as his novel version of the epoch-making anime movie Farewell to Space Battleship Yamato came out in August, 1978.
Just after the success of this book, he was recognized as a master hand at novelization. His works include The Galaxy Express 999, Mu's White Whale, and Triton of the Sea, not to mention all the Space Battleship Yamato series. In addition to these major heroic fantasies, he also novelized the TV animations of King Arthur and Marco Polo, both of which are now almost completely forgotten in Japan. WAKASAKI's less known novelizations of manga and TV dramas dealing with everyday lives of junior high school baseball players, junior high school teachers, girl actresses, and high school baseball players with beautiful female students are respectively Akio CHIBA's Captain, Tokyo Broadcasting System Television's 1-B Class Teacher Shinpachi-sensei, Suzue MIUCHI's Glass Mask, and Mitsuru ADACHI's Nine, all of which are masterpieces as novels. Which means you can enjoy reading them without knowing the originals.
While Japan's Agency for Cultural Affairs boasts of "Cool Japan" anime and manga, it ignores the important contribution of WAKASAKI's hard work. It is lamentable that his old books have become less and less accessible at online bookstores and even in public libraries. Now is the time when his novels are properly stored for future generations of those who love Japanese pop culture, regardless of nationalities.

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