Kobo Abe
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“I'd love to make a game based on one of Kobo Abe's novels though. I've also been thinking about saving up some money and trying to buy the rights to Yojimbo from Toho Cinema.”
Quote 1999 shmuplations.com; Kojima × Tsukamoto conversation in Game Hihyou magazine (1999), unofficial English translation -
Kojima placed Kobo Abe among the authors who influenced him most and ranked The Woman in the Dunes among his top three Abe novels alongside The Face of Another and The Box Man. He was drawn to how Abe revealed contemporary society and human nature through science fiction, fable, and metaphor; Kojima associated narrative holes with awe, fear of the unknown, and even a basic arousal.
Paraphrase 2010-09 VIZ Media — The Creative Gene; official English translation -
“Astute individuals may catch on if they see the cover, so you can't look at it. When you finish the book, you can take a look. […] The cover itself is a spoiler.”
Anecdote 2022-10 HIDEO KOJIMA presents Brain Structure, ep. 8 «Hideo Kojima x Books» (Spotify Studios × Kojima Productions); official English dub, own transcription -
“The book includes a selection from "70% of My Body Is Made of Movies," which was published years ago by Sony Magazines, film critiques I wrote for Bunshun Online after becoming independent, novel afterwords and contributions, a collection of comments from 'Hideo's Mysteries,' travel essays serialized in the Nikkei Sunday edition newspaper, and essays about Kōbō Abe, among others.”
@HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN Quote 2025-11-20 X (Twitter), Hideo Kojima's English-language account @HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN