Shinichiro Nakamura; Japanese Novelist, Poet

Shinichiro Nakamura, 79, a prizewinning Japanese novelist, poet and critic. Nakamura was best known for his tetralogy “Four Seasons.” He won the Junichiro Tanizaki prize for the novel “Summer,” which is part of the series. Nakamura died Thursday of acute respiratory failure after being taken to Tokoro Kinen hospital in Atami, about 40 miles southwest of Tokyo.