Natsuki Ikezawa is a novelist, poet, essayist, and translator of modern Greek poetry. Born in 1945, he is regarded as one of the best serious writers in Japan. Ikezawa studied physics as a young man before moving to Greece, where he lived for three years before returning to Japan. He published his first novel at the age of 39, and has gone on to write several more. Among his honors are the Tanizaki-Junichiro Prize, the Mainichi Prize and the Yomiuri Prize.