Kobunsha Inc. “People can start living again at any age.” A scholar’s first autobiographical essay, “Rebirth,” about a man enjoying his final years, will be released by Kobunsha on Wednesday, October 22nd.

[Kobunsha Inc.] “People can start their lives over again at any age.” A scholar’s first autobiographical essay, “Rebirth,” chronicles the life of a man enjoying his final years. Released by Kobunsha on Wednesday, October 22nd. ​ Image
URL: Kobunsha Inc. Press Release: October 21, 2025 “People can start their lives anew at any age.” A scholar’s first autobiographical essay, “Rebirth,” about a man’s daily life enjoying the final years of his life, will be released by Kobunsha on Wednesday, October 22nd.
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Yasuto Koyasu, a master of Japanese intellectual history. He lost his wife at the age of 84, At the age of 88, he met and fell in love with a 76-year-old woman, He remarried at the age of 89. Now, at the age of 92, he is enjoying married life in his new home in Kamakura. His partner is none other than “The One Who Aches” Hisako Matsui. “I’d been devoted to academics my whole life, but when I turned 88, I was exposed, both physically and mentally, to the life drive that permeates my entire being. I’d never experienced anything like it before. What else could this be but a ‘rebirth’? Truly, people can rebirth their lives at any age.” This is his first autobiography, a companion to the series of works by his wife, film director and author Hisako Matsui—the best-selling “A Man Who Aches” and “The Last Man” (both published by Chuokoron-Shinsha) and “Living as a Couple” (published by Shunyodo Shoten)—which looks back on his life and vividly portrays, from a man’s perspective, the practice of
“re-living” life and sex in his final years. *A public lecture by Professor Nobukuni Koyasu will be held on Saturday, November 1st, from 1:30 PM in Conference Room 301 of the Kamakura Chamber of Commerce and Industry (17-29 Onari-cho, Kamakura City, 5 minutes’ walk from the west exit of Kamakura Station). This will be the final lecture on “Theory of Demons and Gods.” 【Table of Contents】 Foreword Image
URL: https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/21468/2210/21468-2210-22fb2e77a0ca2c42c11cb290f98157de-3394×2454.jpg In 1941, the family went to visit their older brother, Toshitaka, who had enlisted in a regiment in Kofu. Nobukuni, second from the left in the front row, was 9 years old. Chapter 1 War The foot of Mt. Fuji / History of Japanese thought / My family’s firewood and charcoal business / How to get by in life “cleverly” / Using “ways of getting by” / Successful examples of “ways of getting by” / “Historical” factors / My eldest brother’s death in battle / Graves and tombstones / Wartime “peer pressure” / My father and mother — my cheerful father / My father and mother — my faithful mother / The continuing horrors of war / Two dark curtains / The injustice of the evacuation site / The injustice of the eve of defeat / Fading memories / Unfading memories / Defeat, liberation
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/21468/2210/21468-2210-c2bb439c68e25c7879134dd5171f2239-2425×1586.jpg He moved to a shack on his parents’ property in Noborito, Kawasaki City. He runs a cram school and is currently enrolled in graduate school at the University of Tokyo. He is 29 years old. Chapter 2 University My Reading / “I’m Poor, So I’m Going to Tokyo University” / The Turbulent University of Tokyo / Failing Every Job Entrance Exam / A Fateful Encounter / A Revelation from the Goddess / Marriage and Livelihood (Tatsuki) / The Academic Hierarchy / The Launch of “Koyasu Juku” / The Role of “Power” in the Family / The Original “Iku-men” (Father of a Family) / The War of Time / University of Munich / Steiner Education / Transferring to Osaka University / A Man’s Detour / The Benefits of Living Apart / The Influence of Foucault / The Practice of “Rereading” / Jinsai Ito / Disappointed, Stunned / My Breakup from Michiko Koyasu
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/21468/2210/21468-2210-2ec904a9de49291a2165f076c04827ed-3900×2925.jpg Autumn 2021, around the time I started dating Hisako Matsui. At a restaurant in Seijo. She was 88 years old. Chapter 3 Reliving Lonely old age = Individual old age / Lifestyle / Good habits cultivate humanity / Attention to small details / Public lecture on wanderlust / Pornographic novels for the elderly / Experience “The Aching Person”! / Meeting people through books / Hisako Matsui’s vision / A lecturer for life / The real Hisako Matsui / Someone you can talk to Hisako Matsui / Making a date / Surprise plan / Talking back and forth / Most common age of death / Terminal care / Disappointment and anxiety / How to quickly fill the gap / One-year plan / Great Hisako Matsui / Leonie Gilmore / Fellow liberals / Skin-to-skin contact / Love at the age of 88 / Invitation to the night / First kiss / The joy of the flesh / Better half / Sex in the present tense / My “last person” / Meeting my family / An unexpected proposal / Settling the past, Disposing of books / The cruelty of discarding books / The “outside” of books / The living remind the dead / Kurohime Fairy Tale Museum / Sink Ironicity / Bavaria / First Spring / Logical Man / The Heart of a Doll / The Heart of a Person / A Place of Late Bloom / Rebirth / A Man of Flesh and Blood, 90 Years Old / You’re Alright Just the Way You Are /
Self-Expression and Interactions / The Invisible Heart / “Dependent” Behavior / Dealing with the Awakening “Man” / “Citizens’ Lecture” Resuming / Demons and Gods / Rebirth Revolution Afterword [Author information]
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/21468/2210/21468-2210-21355b177cc1f7e61d048d61244c97aa-3900×2925.jpg Nobukuni Koyasu Born in 1933. Japanese intellectual historian. Completed his doctoral studies at the University of Tokyo Graduate School of Humanities. Professor Emeritus at Osaka University. Former President of the Japanese Intellectual History Association. His numerous works include “A Intellectual Historian’s Reading of the Analects” (Iwanami Shoten), “Modernity in the Tannisho” (Hakutakusha), “How Has ‘Asia’ Been Discussed?” and “What Was Showa?” (both Fujiwara Shoten), “What Does ‘Overcoming Modernity’ Mean?” (Seidosha), “The Illusion of ‘Restoration’ Modernity” and “On the Emperor” (both Sakuhinsha). In 2022, he remarried Hisako Matsui, a film director and author who has been making waves with the publication of her novels “The Aching Person” and “The Last Person” (both Chuokoron-Shinsha). [Book summary] Book title: “Revival” Author: Nobukuni Koyasu Publisher: Kobunsha Release Date: Scheduled for release on Wednesday, October 22, 2025 *Depending on distribution conditions, there may be delays in some areas. Price: ¥1,980 (tax included) Format: 46-size softcover, 208 pages [Amazon] https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/4334107990/ [Rakuten Books]
https://books.rakuten.co.jp/rb/18391930/?l-id=search-c-item-img-01 【Author Activity】 In general, this is possible. As the author is elderly, please contact me for details.