Natsuo Kirino

Natsuo Kirino (桐野 夏生, Kirino Natsuo^?, born October 7, 1951 in Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture) is a Japanese novelist and a leading figure in the recent boom of female writers of Japanese detective fiction.^[1]

Biography

A prolific writer, she is most famous for her 1997 novel, Out, which received the Mystery Writers of Japan Award, Japan's top mystery award, and was a finalist (in English translation) for the 2004 Edgar Award. In addition, Kirino received the 1993 Edogawa Rampo Award for mystery fiction for her debut novel, Kao ni furikakeru ame (Rain Falling on My Face), and the 1999 Naoki Prize for her novel Yawarakana hoho [Soft Cheeks]. So far, three of her novels (Out, Grotesque and Real World ) have been translated into English. A fourth novel, What Remains, a violent tale of childhood abuse and sexual degradation, enjoyed a considerable readership in Japan; Kirino, however, has expressed doubts that it will do as well in the U.S. market.^[2] Kirino also has written an installment in the Canongate Myth Series (concerning the myth of Izanagi and Izanami), to be published in 2009.^{[dated info]}

A Japanese film adaptation of Out, directed by Hideyuki Hirayama, was released in 2002 to generally tepid reviews. According to Variety (on-line edition), New Line Cinema has purchased the rights for an American version, to be directed by Hideo Nakata (Ring, Ring 2).^[3]

Major Works

Fiction

Novels:

• Kao ni furikakeru ame (Tokyo: Kodansha, 1993)
• Tenshi ni misuterareta yoru (Tokyo: Kodansha, 1994)
• Auto (Tokyo: Kodansha, 1997); English translation by Stephen Snyder as Out (New York: Kodansha, 2003; New York: Vintage, 2005)
• Mizu no nemuri hai no yume (Tokyo: Bungei Shunju, 1998)
• Faiaboro burusu [Fireball Blues] (Tokyo: Bungei Shunju, 1998)
• Yawarakana hoho (Tokyo: Kodansha, 1999); French translation by Silvain Chupain as Disparitions (Paris: Rocher, 2002)
• Gyokuran (Tokyo: Asahi Shinbunsha, 2001)
• Dâku [Dark] (Tokyo: Kodansha: 2002)
• Gurotesuku (Tokyo: Bungei Shunju, 2003); English translation by Rebecca L. Copeland as Grotesque (New York: Knopf, 2007)
• Kogen (Tokyo: Bungei Shunju, 2003)
• Riaru warudo (Tokyo: Shueisha, 2003); English translation by J. Philip Gabriel as Real World (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2008)
• Zangyakuki (Tokyo: Shinchosha, 2004); English translation as What Remains (London: Harvill Secker, 2008)
• Tamamoe! (Tokyo: Mainichi Shinbunsha, 2005)
• Boken no kuni (Tokyo: Shinchosha, 2005)
• Metabora (Tokyo: Asahi Shinbunsha, 2007)
• Tokyo-jima (Tokyo: Shinchosha, 2008)
• Yasashii Otona (Tokyo: Chuokoron-Shinsha, 2010)

Short fiction:

• Sabiru kokoro (Tokyo: Bungei Shunju, 1997)
• Jiorama [Diorama] (Tokyo: Shinchosha, 1998)
• Rozu gâden [Rose Garden] (Tokyo: Kodansha, 2000)
• Ambosu mundosu [Ambos Mundos] (Tokyo: Bungei Shunju, 2005)

Quotes

"All of them had the ability to interact with others: friends, lovers, someone to whom they could open their hearts, someone with whom they could share conversation, someone they longed to see once work was done. They had people outside the workplace who made them feel happy." --GROTESQUE

Other Works

• Rebecca L. Copeland, "Woman uncovered: pornography and power in the detective fiction of Kirino Natsuo", Japan Forum 16/2 (2004): 249-69
• Amanda C. Seaman, Bodies of Evidence: Women, Society, and Detective Fiction in 1990s Japan (Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 2004), 86-118
• Idem, "Inside OUT: Space, Gender, and Power in Kirino Natsuo", Japanese Language and Literature 40/2 (2006): 197-217

See also

• Japanese literature
• List of detective fiction authors
• List of female detective/mystery writers

	Novels portal
	Japan portal

References

1. ^ The basic biographical details can be found on Kirino's official web site, BUBBLONIA, accessed May 25, 2007. On the rise of Japanese women's detective fiction, and Kirino's role in it, see Seaman, Bodies of Evidence, 10-25.
2. ^ See Margy Rochlin, "Grotesque: Natsuo Kirino's Dark World", in LA Weekly (5 July 2007)
3. ^ Fleming, Michael (2004-06-29). "New Line thrills to 'Out' with Nakata". Variety. http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117907217.html?categoryid=1238&cs=1. Retrieved 2007-05-22. 

External links

• Kirino's official website (Japanese) (English)
• Interview with Kirino in the Columbia University Spectator (April 2007)
• BookSense interview with Kirino (English)
• 2003 Japan Times interview with Kirino (English)

Persondata
Name	Kirino, Natsuo
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1951
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death