Sakyo Komatsu

was a Japanese novelist and science fiction writer. He is best known for a 1973 book, "Japan Sinks" ("Nihon Chinbotsu"). 
Early life.
Komatsu was born in Osaka. In 1954, he earned a degree in Italian literature at Kyoto University. 
Career.
Komatsu worked as a magazine editor, a factory foreman and a comedy scriptwriter before he began writing science fiction. 
The premise of Komatsu's best known book, "Japan Sinks", was confirmed in 2011 when parts of the Sanriku coastline sank more than a meter in the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. In the massive geologic shift, the land mass of the main island of Japan sank 2.4 centemeters. 
Komatsu's most popular book was the basis of a 1973 film, a television series, a 2006 film remake, and a DVD.
Selected works.
In an overview of writings by and about Sakyo Komatsu, OCLC/WorldCat includes roughly 380+ works in 520+ publications in 14 languages and 1,520 library holdings. 
Quotes.
Shortly before his death, Komatsu wrote, "I had thought I wouldn’t mind dying any day, but now I’m feeling like living a little bit longer and seeing how Japan will go on hereafter."