Kōbō Abe (安部 公房) is the pseudonym of Kimifusa Abe (安部 公房). Abe was born in Kita, Tokyo, the son of a physician who taught medicine. He was raised in Mukden, Manchuria. He returned to Japan in 1941, and in 1943 he went to Tokyo Imperial University, where he earned a medical degree but he failed his medical exam and was forbidden from practicing. He returned to Manchuria as an author. In 1947, he self-published his first book, Mumei-shishū ("Poems of an unknown poet"). His wrote avant-garde poetry, novels, and plays. In 1977 he was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.