In 1984, Inoue established his own theatre troupe, called "Komatsuza", to perform his own plays. These include biographical works on Meiji period writers Ishikawa Takuboku and Higuchi Ichiyō, whom he had long admired. In 1988, he completed a comic trilogy: "Kirameku seiza, Yami ni saku hana, Yuki ya kon kon", depicting the lives of ordinary people in the Shōwa period. Despite his activity with the theatre, Inoue continued to write novels, winning the 1982 Seiun Award for Best Novel for "Kirikirijin", the Yoshikawa Eiji Literary Prize for "Treasury of Disloyal Retainers" in 1986, the 27th Tanizaki Prize for "Shanghai Moon" in 1991, and the Kikuchi Kan Prize for "Tokyo Seven Roses" in 1999. In 1984, the Writer's Block Library was opened in Kawanishi, Yamagata, thanks to Inoue's donation of his 100,000 volume book collection. Inoue was awarded the Asahi Prize in the year 2000 and the Yomiuri Literary Prize again in 2010. In 2004, he was designated a Person of Cultural Merit by the Japanese government.