Tamiya Torahiko was a Japanese novelist born in Tokyo and raised in Kobe. Due to his father's seafaring job, he moved frequently. Tamiya attended the First Kobe Middle School and the Third Higher School, graduating in 1933. He studied Japanese literature at Tokyo Imperial University, where he participated in the literary magazine "Nichireki" and published stories like "Ichijiku." As a member of the Imperial University Newspaper's editorial staff, he visited prominent writers from his alma mater.

After graduating, Tamiya joined the Tokyo Newspaper but was arrested and left the company due to unauthorized meetings with the "Jinmin Bunko" research group, which he had been part of since its inception in 1936. Censorship led to the group's dissolution.

In November 1956, Tamiya's wife died of stomach cancer. In 1957, a collection of their letters, "Ai no Katami," was published and became a bestseller.

Later, Tamiya aimed to combat leprosy stigma by writing a long magazine series. He visited 13 national leprosaria across Japan over four years, but the series was never completed. In January 1988, Tamiya suffered a stroke and was hospitalized at Nissan Tamagawa Hospital. Despite rehabilitation, he was paralyzed on his right side and was discharged at the end of March. On April 9, 1988, he attempted suicide by jumping from his apartment's 11th-floor balcony in Kita-Aoyama, Tokyo, during his housemate's absence. He was taken to Tokyo Women's Medical University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. A note revealed he ended his life due to a recurrent stroke that left him unable to write. He was 77 years old.

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