Kobayashi Takiji was a Japanese author best remembered for his short novel Crab Cannery Ship, which narrates the hardship faced by seamen, fishermen, and cannery workers aboard a cannery ship. Many of his works have been translated into several languages, including English, Spanish, and French among other languages. His death helped throw light on the brutality of the Tokkō police.
Japanese translator and scholar Komaki Ōmiya was better known by his pseudonym, Ōmi Komaki. Born to a politician in Japan, he quit school to be with his father at a conference in France, and never left. Back in Japan, years later, he promoted communism and translated works of French authors.