Shinmon Aoki (Japanese: 青木新門, Hepburn: Aoki Shinmon, 11 April 1937 – 6 August 2022) was a Japanese writer and poet. He was best known for his memoirs Coffinman: The Journal of a Buddhist Mortician,[1] published in 1993. The book was based on his diaries during a period in which he worked as a mortician in the 1970s, a profession which is traditionally regarded as a taboo in Japan due to their perception of death. In 2008 his memoirs were adapted into a successful Academy Award-winning feature film, Departures, by filmmaker Yōjirō Takita.[2]
Shinmon Aoki | |
|---|---|
| Born | 11 April 1937 Nyūzen, Shimoniikawa District, Toyama, Toyama Prefecture, Japan |
| Died | 6 August 2022 (aged 85) |
| Occupation | Writer, poet |
| Genre | Fiction |
Aoki died on 6 August 2022, at the age of 85.[3]