Shinji Soya

Shinji Soya 宗谷真爾 (25 Dec. 1925, Noda City, Chiba Prefecture, Japan – 22 April 1991) was a Japanese pediatrician and novelist who was brought by his interest in esoterism and fantasy literature to extensively study ancient Khmer civilization, Asian polytheism and folklore. 

While studying at School of Medicine, Keio University, Soya contributed to Bungei Shuto 文芸首都 literary magazine. Later, while keeping his pediatrician practice, he wrote several books dealing with eroticism in literature and folktales, as well as works of fiction.

Commenting on his own theater work The Terrace of the Leper King (1969), Yukio Mishima acknowledged the influence of Shinji Soya’s A Study of Angkor Civilization: Eros and the Snake God, published that same year. 

Publications

• 動悸と人形 第二書房 [Palpitations and Dolls], Tokyo, Dai-ni Shobo, 1961.
• 生命存在と文学 [Life and Literature], Gendai Shichosha, 1964.
• なっこぶし [Nakkobushi], Tokyo, Kawade Shobo Shinsha, 1964; sequel: 鼠浄土 [Nezumi Pure Land], Chuko Bunko, 1979.
• 風媒花 ある少女の性遍歴 [Wind-pollinated Flowers: A Girl’s Sexual History], Shinjusha, 1967.
• 蟻の塔 [Ant Tower], Noda Shobo, 1969.
• アンコール文明論 エロスと蛇神 [A Study of Angkor Civilization: Eros and the Snake God], Tokyo, Kinokuniya Shinsho, 1969.
• 風のなかへ [Into the Wind], Noda Shobo Miniature Books, 1970.
• 陰陽師 [Onmyoji], Shinjusha, 1970.
• [A Study of the Historical Sites of Angkor: Eros and the Snake God], Tokyo, Chuoko Bunko, 1980.
• 王朝妖異譚 [Dynasty Ghost Story, 14th edition, 1981.