Yoshikawa Eiji (August 11, 1892 - September 7, 1962) was a Japanese novelist and master of the historical novel. He was born Yoshikawa Hidetsugu in Yokohama, Japan. His father Yoshikawa Naohiro was a former samurai in the Odawara clan. After working at a variety of jobs, he gained fame as a popular writer with the serial publication of the novel Naruto Hicho [The Secret Record of Naruto] in Osaka Mainichi Shimbun (August 11, 1926 - October 14, 1927). He gained a wider following with Miyamoto Musashi, published serially beginning in 1935. A prolific author, he received the Order of Culture in 1960 and the third Mainichi Geijutsu art prize in 1961. In his honor, The Yoshikawa Eiji Prize for Literature was established in 1967 and The Yoshikawa Eiji Prize for New Writers in 1980.