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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Uchūjin (宇宙塵) was a Japanese science fiction fanzine published from 1957 until its 204th issue in 2013. It was Japan's first science fiction fanzine. It was awarded a special Seiun Award in 1982 as Japan's oldest science fiction fanzine, and received an honorable mention for Best Amateur Magazine at the 1962 Hugo Awards.
![]() Cover of issue 1, May 1957 | |
Founder | Takumi Shibano |
---|---|
Founded | 1957 |
First issue | May 1957 |
Final issue Number | September 2013 204 |
Country | Japan |
Language | Japanese |
Uchūjin began publication with the May 1957 issue. Science fiction author and translator Takumi Shibano as the founding editor, making it the oldest Japanese science fiction fanzine.[1] Shibano (under the pseudonym "Kozumi Rei" (小隅黎)) chaired the Science Fiction Writing Club (科学創作クラブ, Kagaku Sōsaku Kurabu) after participating in the Japan Flying Saucer Research Association (日本空飛ぶ円盤研究会, Nihon Soratobu Enban Kenkyūkai).
The club changed its name to Uchūjin before the first issue, and focused on science fiction writing, translation, critique, and related topics. Since the first issue, many of its contributors went on to become well-known speculative fiction writers, including Sakyō Komatsu, Yasutaka Tsutsui, Ryū Mitsuse, Shinji Kajio, Akira Hori, Kōji Tanaka, Yoshinori Shimizu, Baku Yumemakura, and Masaki Yamada.[2]
At the first Nihon SF Taikai in 1962 (which Shibano chaired),[3] Uchūjin held a fifth anniversary party. They also released a self-parody fanzine titled Space Deer (宇宙鹿, Uchū Shishi) in the same year. Three collections of the best works from the magazine were released. The magazine publishing frequency changed from monthly to annual in 1973, with the 200th issue being published in 2007. The final issue contained memorial tributes to Shibano, including an interview with his widow.
The following writers contributed to Uchūjin over the years:
Several collections of works from Uchūjin were published in Japan.
Uchūjin has received the following awards and honors:
Year | Organization | Award title, Category |
Result | Refs |
---|---|---|---|---|
1962 | World Science Fiction Society | Hugo Award, Best Amateur Magazine |
Honorable Mention | [4] |
1982 | 日本ファングループ連合会議 (Federation of Science Fiction Fan Groups of Japan) |
Seiun Award, Special Award (Japan's oldest fanzine) |
Won | [5] |
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