Translator explains Watanabe's popularity in China

Junichi Watanabe, who penned the wildly successful love story A Lost Paradise is one of the most popular Japanese writers in China. Lu Qiushi, the Shanghai-based translator who brought the late writer's fiction and prose writings to China, said he has some idea of why Watanabe stands out.

"His love stories are mainly based on his own experiences. This is unique among all the world's writers," Lu wrote to China Daily. Watanabe is known for writing of extramarital affairs and explicit lovemaking scenes.

"His fixation with intense love between man and woman came from his belief that love is the origin of everything else," Lu wrote. "He stood by 'absolute' love, which makes him different from other Japanese writers."

Watanabe, who passed away on April 30 in Tokyo at the age of 80, was also known for killing his characters in suicides committed for love.

"His view of life and death and his aesthetics are understandable to Chinese readers," Lu said. "We're close to Japan, have similar lifestyles and states of mind, and these may explain his popularity."

Watanabe's other bestsellers in China include What is a Man and The Power of Insensitivity, both expositions of his view of life.

"For all the things he wrote, he concerned himself with humanity and how one should live," Lu said. "So we read to be inspired."