Tokyo, Mar 14 (IANS): Japanese author and Nobel Prize laureate Kenzaburo Oe has died at the age of 88, local media reported.

According to publisher Kodansha Ltd on Monday, Oe died of old age in the early hours of March 3.

Born in Japan's Ehime prefecture in 1935, Oe graduated from the French literature department of the University of Tokyo.

He was the author of several works including "The Catch", "A Personal Matter" and "The Silent Cry", and won the 1994 Nobel Prize in Literature, Xinhua news agency reported.

In his 70s, Oe said he intended to continue living as a novelist until he died and that the aim of his life's "late work is to write grotesque novels that defy the present time and society," Kyodo News reported.

As a leading figure in Japanese literature after World War II, Oe had long opposed the revival of Japanese militarism and actively advocated peace.

The peace-loving author had also made unremitting efforts in promoting cultural exchanges and friendship between Japan and China.