In 1976, he published a collection of essays, Buryugeru e no tabi (“Journey to Bruegel”), which won the Japan Essayist’s Club Award. He followed this with an autobiographical series of books: Mugi Uru hi ni (“When the Wheat Ripens”, 1978), which was awarded the Hirabayashi Taiko Literary Prize. Other noteworthy works include Nigai Natsu (“Bitter Summer”, 1979) ad Kisetsu no owari (“The End of the Season”, 1980).