As a writer, researcher, and collector of historical documents, Takazawa acquired many rare primary materials and obscure publications from private collections or second-hand book dealers in Japan for his independent writing projects. He also conducted a number of taped interviews with key figures. During the late 1980s and early 1990s he traveled to North Korea, China, and Cambodia as a journalist. The collection contains materials he acquired on these trips as well as his own writings. In 1999 he won the prestigious Kōdansha Non-Fiction Prize for his book Shukumei: Yodogo Bōmeishatachi no Himitsu Kosaku (Shinch ōsha, 1998). |
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