Background
Born in Toyohara, Karafuto (now Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Sakhalin), Fukushima was the son of a public official
福島 正実
Born in Toyohara, Karafuto (now Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Sakhalin), Fukushima was the son of a public official
As the first chief editor of San Francisco Magazine, he helped popularize science fiction in Japan and became known as the "Demon of San Francisco". His real name is Masami Katō (加藤 正実, Katō Masami). He also used the pen name: Kyō Katō (加藤 喬, Katō Kyō).
His family moved to Manchuria after his father"s transfer in 1934.
In 1937 they moved to the mainland of Japan. Fukushima grew up in Yokohama.
He entered Nihon University in 1945 and transferred to Meiji University in 1950, where he majored in French literature. In 1956, Fukushima was invited to join Hayakawa Publishing Corporation (早川書房).
The following year, he initiated the Hayakawa San Francisco series and in 1959 founded San Francisco Magazine and served as chief editor until he left the company in 1969.
Hayakawa World San Francisco Complete Collection was also planned by Fukushima. He aimed to make San Francisco more highbrow, and initially rejected space opera. To avoid being considered "childish literature", Fukushima adopted exclusively the paintings of Seikan Nakajima for the covers of San Francisco Magazine and Hayakawa San Francisco series.
(see covers)
Beside his work in widening the Japanese San Francisco genre, he translated many English San Francisco authors, including Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, and Robert A. Heinlein, into Japanese and edited San Francisco anthologies.
Fukushima died in 1976, aged 47. There is a prize for Juvenile San Francisco in his memory.