Tatsuo Hori

Hori followed with a number of novelettes and poems, often characterized by the theme of death. During one of his regular stays in Karuizawa, Nagano, he met his future fiancée Ayako Yano, a time which he portrayed in his novel Beautiful Village. Both ill with tuberculosis, the couple moved to a sanatorium in Nagano Prefecture, which Hori used as the setting for his most famous novel, The Wind Has Risen, a fictionalised account of his fiancée's last months before her death in December 1935. In 1938, Hori married Tae Kato. Near the end of the Pacific War, he was evacuated to Oiwake, Karuizawa, where he remained until his death in 1953. Due to his deteriorating health, his literary output declined during his last years.

In 1930, Hori received recognition for his short story Sei kazoku (lit. "The Holy Family"), which was written under the impression of Akutagawa's death and even paid reference to the dead mentor in the shape of the deceased character Kuki.

Hori is buried at Tama Reien cemetery in Tokyo. In his honour, the Hori Tatsuo Memorial Museum of Literature was established in Karuizawa. His widow Tae (1913–2010) served as the museum's honorary director and published many essays on her husband.

Tatsuo Hori (堀辰雄, Hori Tatsuo, 28 December 1904 – 28 May 1953) was a Japanese translator and writer of poetry, short stories and novels.