Ben Goto
Japanese writer
Tsutomu "Ben" Goto (五島 勉, Gotō Ben, 17 November 1929 – 16 June 2020) was a Japanese journalist and writer best known for his books on Nostradamus.
Early life and career
Goto was born into a Christian family in Hakodate, Hokkaido. Raised Russian Orthodox, his mother spoke to him often about Biblical prophecy. Stories of Armageddon had been handed down from his grandmother, who was one of the first believers in Japan through the missionary work conducted by Saint Nicholas.
Early in his career, Gotō published works dealing with issues of the Second World War as well as several books supportive of Sōka Gakkai and its controversial leader, Daisaku Ikeda. In 1969, while working as a freelance writer for various women's magazines, his interest in Nostradamus was piqued while watching the Apollo 11 Moon landing. He recalled having read about such an event in Nostradamus' quatrains. In 1973, he published a book named "ノストラダムスの大予言" (Nostradamus no daiyogen; "The Prophecies of Nostradamus"), which introduced Nostradamus and his prophecies to a mainstream Japanese audience. A film version was released in 1974.
The Prophecies of Nostradamus
His writings were described as tapping into Japan's deep insecurity and vulnerability about living in a troubled world.
The public source identifies “Ben Goto” as japanese writer. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Goto, Japanese and writer.
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Biographical claims are most persuasive when dates, appointments and relationships can be traced to records created close to the events described. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 25, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q4885728. VIAF identifies the subject as 21016723. The Library of Congress control number is n82003570. 2 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1929, 2020, 1969 and 1973.
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This entry incorporates text from “Ben Goto” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.