SF Online Interview with Hagio (Part I-3)

(Continued)

Hagio:

I was reading those. Then in middle school there was a magazine called "Middle School Course" that came with a supplement of SciFi or mystery stories adapted for younger readers. Among them was "Planet SOS" [adapted from "The Currents of Space"] by Asimov, and I was engrossed in it completely. I got addicted to SciFi then and started to hunt for them.

Mizutama:

"I need…more SciFi!"

Hagio:

Yes, exactly. Until that time I was at a point where I would read it if I could find it, but I didn't care if none was available. But when I entered high school there was a rental bookstore nearby and, was it from Sogen? There was a series of slender books. The series contained both mysteries and SciFi.

Mizutama:

Wasn't it from Hayakawa Shobo?

Sakai:

Yes, from Hayakawa.

Hagio:

Hayakawa, I see.

Mizutama:

They were slightly elongated and on the spine of each book was a red "SF" logo against a silver background.

Hagio:

Yes, that's it! So I rented one every day for 10 or 15 yen per volume. And I also hunted for "SF Magazine" in the used bookstores.

Mizutama:

Ah, I see you started to look for more potent stuff. (laugh). At that point you might have been able to trace back all the way to the first issue of SF Magazine?

Hagio:

I did find and read three thin issues that appeared to have come out shortly after the launch of the magazine, but it was around the time of the final installment of "Endless Flow" [probably this?] when I started tracking issues consciously, so perhaps they were from a bit later?

Mizutama:

So what was the lineup of the books you rented on a daily basis?

Hagio:

Mainly SciFi from the 50's, I think. "Inter Ice Age 4" by Kobo Abe, and something by the title of "Time Machine" or something, was it by Paul…?

Sakai:

"Time Patrol" perhaps? That's by Poul Anderson.

Hagio:

And also "Lest Darkness Fall" and so forth. I think the mix was about 90% translation, 10% original Japanese.

(Continues)