Shotaro Ikenami (1923-1990). Born in the Asakusa neighborhood of Tōkyō, he studied at Shitaya Nishimachi Elementary School and, without graduating from high school, went directly to work as a stockbroker until after World War II, when he became a civil servant and He was working in various departments under the Shitaya City Council.

He became a disciple of the famous novelist and playwright Shin Hasegawa and began writing the scripts and directing the Shinkokugeki theater company, which specialized in chanbara, or period fiction. In 1960 he received the Naoki Prize for his work Sakuran. He subsequently launched three series of swashbuckling novels that brought him great success: Onihei Hankachō, Kenkaku Shōbai, and Shiokinin Fujeida Baian.

Many of his works have been adapted for stage and film and even today he is one of Japan's most widely read historical adventure fiction novelists.