Koushun Takami is a Japanese author and journalist, best known for the 1999 novel Battle Royale, a dystopian story about junior high students forced to fight one another. Takami reported on politics, police news and economics for the Shikoku Shimbun from 1991 to 1996, before finishing the novel. The book was later adapted into two live-action films directed by Kinji Fukasaku and four manga series.
