Kazuo Kikuta was born in Yokohama in 1908, but due to family reasons, he spent one year during the third grade of elementary school in Kazusa, Minamishimabara, where his foster mother was born. After the war, his radio dramas such as "Kimi no Na wa (Your Name)" became very popular, which launched his career as a playwright. NHK's TV adaption of "Kimi no Na wa" was shot in Unzen, which remains a tourist attraction today for fans. Kikuta's autobiographical novel "Gashintare" recounts his days as an apprentice in Osaka and Kobe before he moved to Tokyo at the age of 18 to pursue literature. The following verse is inscribed on his poem monument that has been erected along the coast of Kazusa: "Gashintare / Kefuwanakinari / Furusato no / Umi no aosa yo." ("Good-for-nothing, I'm in tears now, for the blueness of the sea is my hometown.")