Junichiro Tanizaki was born in Tokya in 1886 and lived there until the earthquake of 1923, when he moved to the Kyoto-Osaka region, the scene of The Makioka Sisters. By 1930 he had gained such reknown that an edition of his complete works was published. Author of more than twelve novels, he was awarded Japans Imperial Prize in lLiterature in 1949. Tanizaki died in 1965.