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Welsh-Japanese writer (1940–2020)

C. W. Nicol

Born	Clive William Nicol (1940-07-17)17 July 1940 Neath, Wales
Died	3 April 2020(2020-04-03) (aged 79) Japan
Occupation	Writer, illustrator
Citizenship	Japan
Alma mater	Tokyo University of Science

Clive William Nicol, MBE (Japanese: C・W・ニコル; 17 July 1940 – 3 April 2020) was a Welsh-Japanese writer. He was a long-time resident and citizen of Japan.

Early life

Nicol was born in Neath, Wales. He graduated from Tokyo University of Science.

Career

In 1958, Nicol visited the Arctic Circle to research eider ducks. He became a Canadian citizen. By the early 1960s, he was studying Shotokan karate-Do at the headquarters of the Japan Karate Association (JKA) and studied Japanese and fisheries at Nihon University. He spent 1967 to 1969 as a game warden in Ethiopia, setting up the new Semien Mountains National Park. He returned to Japan, writing a book about his Ethiopian experiences entitled From the Roof of Africa (1971).

After he took up residence in Japan, Nicol focused on writing books and other literary works. In 1980, he won the Japan Broadcasting Writer's Award for a television drama written in Japanese. He continued to be an active environmentalist and lecture about the environment, addressing issues such as deforestation and the preservation of natural environments. He was particularly interested in restoring Japan's vast woodlands. The C. W. Nicol Afan Woodland in Kurohime, Shinanomachi, Nagano Prefecture, was established in 1986.

Nicol became a Japanese citizen (and thus lost his Canadian and British citizenship), which he wrote about in Why I Became Japanese (僕が日本人になった理由, Boku ga Nihonjin ni natta riyū).

He wrote both fiction and non-fiction books, in both Japanese and in English. His subjects included whaling (for which he went on a trip on a whaling vessel), the environment, martial arts and children's fiction. His books have been translated between English and Japanese, as well as into French, Italian, German, Mongolian, Korean and Chinese. In 2005, he was awarded an Order of the British Empire.

Nicol was the chairman of the Afan Woodland Trust. He was diagnosed with cancer in 2016, and died aged 79.

Selected works

The White Shaman
Harpoon / Isana
The Boy Who Saw the Wind
The Raven's Tale
From the Roof of Africa
Moving Zen: Karate as a Way to Gentleness
The White Hippo

Discography

Sail Down the River (1991)
The World of Little Twins (1992)

References

Rees, Mark (26 November 2018). The Little Book of Welsh Landmarks. The History Press. ISBN 978-0-7509-9024-0.
"An Interview with C W Nicol". Archived from the original on 8 January 2015. Retrieved 23 September 2011.
"British-Born Writer C.W. Nicol Dies at 79". 4 April 2020.
Andrew Kershaw (4 April 2020). "C.W. Nicol, a committed environmentalist with deep humanity". Japan Times.

External links

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