Popular author and award-winning screenwriter Nozawa Hisashi (44) was found hanged at his Tokyo office yesterday. Police found what they believe to be a suicide note. Nozawa was the lead writer on an NHK “taiga” drama planned for 2007 and associates were baffled by his sudden suicide. Nozawa made his writing debut in 1985 for Yomiuri TV and wrote several award-winning dramas over the following decades. He is survived by his wife and two children.
• Fuji TV, which has produced box-office hit movies such as “Antarctica” (1983) and “Bayside Shakedown” (1998), is to make its first feature length anime. The company is aiming to make “Brave Story” an international hit. Based on a manga by popular writer Miyabe Miyuki, it tells of a young boy who ventures to a fantasy world to save his dying mother. Teaming up with Fuji will be the new star in Japanese anime, Gonzo Digimation, a company that already enjoys a good reputation in Hollywood.