Author Junzo Shono, a member of the Japan Art Academy, died of natural causes Monday at his home in Kawasaki, people close to him said Tuesday. He was 88.

A native of Osaka, Shono began writing novels after World War II and won the Akutagawa Award in 1955 for his book "Purusaido Shokei" ("Poolside Scene").

He gained prominence as an up-and-coming author in the mid-1950s along with such writers as Shotaro Yasuoka and Junnosuke Yoshiyuki.

Shono's other award-winning books include "Seibutsu" ("Still Life"), which won the Shinchosha literary prize, "Yube no Kumo" ("Evening Clouds"), which took the Yomiuri literary prize, and "Eawase" ("Picture Cards"), which garnered the Noma literary prize.

Shono spent a year in the United States in the late 1950s on a fellowship from the Rockefeller Foundation and later published "Gambia Taizaiki," depicting his experiences and life at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio.

He was given membership in the Japan Art Academy, an affiliate of the Cultural Affairs Agency, in 1978.