Dr. Ichiro Irabu is a fictional psychiatrist in a series of short stories by Japanese writer Hideo Okuda, originally published primarily in the literary magazine All Yomimono from August 2000 to January 2006 and later collected in three tankobon: In the Pool , Kuchu Buranko ( "Flying Trapeze") and Chocho Senkyo (, "Mayoral Election"). Of these, Kuchu Buranko is particularly acclaimed, having won Okuda the 131st Naoki Prize (given for a book published in the first half of 2004) but, as of January 2011, only In the Pool has published in English translation.
Works in other media based on the stories include a feature film, television drama, stage play and animated series. Premise
Ichiro Irabu is a psychiatrist from the Irabu General Hospital. He is fat and pale skinned, with a fetish for administering injections to patients. An unreasonable and rather immature person, he normally ignores Yamashita's plights while challenging him to mid-air trapeze flying due to his self proclaimed "light-weightedness." During his student days, he frequently misunderstood his lectures. Treated as a general nuisance at the School of Medicine, he entered pediatrics soon after graduation. However, due to claims of his tantrums and quarrels with child patients, he switched to psychiatry instead. Doubts remain about his actual grades. Basic Information Release Date April 24, 2004 ISBN 978-4-16-322870-9 Publisher Bungeishunju (JPN)
Source: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kūchū-Buranko/103088143064921
