Yuuichi Sasamoto is a Seiun Award-winning science fiction writer. He has received the honor five times in his career.

1999: Suisei Gari, Best Japanese Novel of the Year

2003: Passport to the Universe, Non-Fiction of the Year

2004: Passport to the Universe 2, Non-Fiction of the Year

2005: ARIEL, Best Japanese Novel of the Year

2007: Passport to the Universe 3, Non-Fiction of the Year

Yuichi Sasamoto's debut work was Yosei Sakusen, which was released in 1984.

He is known in Japan as the first light novel writer with his ARIEL series. He is also a rocket enthusiast and together with a few other sci-fi novelists and mangaka, founded a group that successfully launched a rocket to orbit.

Twitter: @sasamotoU1