Miyuki Miyabe

Miyuki Miyabe (宮部 みゆき Miyabe Miyuki, born December 23, 1960) is a popular contemporary Japanese author active in a number of genres that include science fiction, mystery fiction, historical fiction, social commentary, and juvenile fiction. Her most famous novels in the English-speaking world are Crossfire (クロスファイア), published in 1998, and Kasha (火車), translated by Alfred Birnbaum as All She Was Worth, published in 1999. Amongst anime fans, her fantasy novel Brave Story is well regarded; it has notably been adapted into an animated film, an "alternate retelling" manga series, and a series of video games.

Biography

Miyabe was born in the Kōtō ward of Tokyo, Japan and graduated from Sumidagawa High School. She started writing novels at the age of 23. In 1984, while working at a law office, Miyabe began to take writing classes at a writing school run by the Kodansha publishing company. Her debut work is considered to be her 1987 short story "Warera ga rinjin no hanzai" (我らが隣人の犯罪). She has been a prolific writer, publishing dozens of novels and winning many major literary prizes, including the Yamamoto Shūgorō Prize in 1993 for Kasha and the Naoki Prize in 1998 for Riyū [The Reason] (理由). A Japanese film adaptation of Riyû, directed by Nobuhiko Obayashi, was released in 2004 (reviewed by Mark Schilling in The Japan Times (5 January 2005)).

Bibliography

• Perfect Blue (パーフェクト・ブルー) (1989, ISBN 4488411010)
• Majyutsuwa sasayaku = The Devil's Whisper (魔術はささやく) (1989)
• Wareraga rinjin no hanzai (我らが隣人の犯罪) (1990, ISBN 4061487396)
• Tokyo (Waterfront) Satsujin Kureiro = The Murders in Downtown Tokyo (東京 (ウォーター・フロント）殺人暮色) (1990 のち文庫『東京下町殺人暮色』と改題)
• Level 7 (レベル7) (1990)
• Ryu-wa nemuru (龍は眠る) (1991)
• Honjyo Fukagawa Fushigizoushi (本所深川ふしぎ草紙) (1991, ISBN 4101369151)
• Henjiwa iranai (返事はいらない) (1991, ISBN 4101369135)
• Kamaitachi (かまいたち) (1992)
• Konyawa nemurenai (今夜は眠れない) (1992)
• Suna-ku gari (スナーク狩り) (1992, ISBN 4334724094)
• Kasha = All She was Worth (火車) (1992, ISBN 4101369186)
• Nagai nagai Satsujin (長い長い殺人) (1992, ISBN 4334728278)
• Torinokosarete (とり残されて) (1992, ISBN 4167549026)
• Stepfather Step (ステップファザー・ステップ) (1993)
• Furueru Iwa - Reigen Ohatsu Torimonohikae-1 (震える岩 霊験お初捕物控1) (1991)
• Sabishii karyudo (淋しい狩人) (1993)
• Chikagaino ame (地下街の雨) (1994)
• Maboroshiiro Edogoyomi (幻色江戸ごよみ) (1994)
• Yumenimo omowanai (夢にも思わない) (1995, ISBN 4043611021)
• Hatsu monogatari (初ものがたり) (1995)
• Itokichino Koi (糸吉の恋) (愛蔵版のみ収録/『小説歴史街道』1996年初夏号)
• Hatobuesou (鳩笛草) (1995)
• Hitojichi Canon (人質カノン) (1996, ISBN 4167549042)
• Gamoutei jiken (蒲生邸事件) (1996)
• Kanninbako (堪忍箱) (1996)
• Tengukaze Reigen Ohatsu Torimonohikae-2 (天狗風 霊験お初捕物控2) (1997, ISBN 4062732572)
• Kokoro torokasuyouna Masa-no Jikenbo(心とろかすような マサの事件簿) (1997, ISBN 4488411029)
• Riyū (理由) (1998)
• Crossfire (クロスファイア) (1998)
• Bonkura (ぼんくら) (2000)　
• Ayashi (あやし 怪) (2000)　
• Mohouhan (模倣犯) (2001)
• R.P.G. = Shadow Family (2001, ISBN 408747349X)
• Dream Buster (ドリームバスター) 1-4 (2001–07)
• Akanbee (あかんべえ) (2002)
• Brave Story (ブレイブ・ストーリー) (2003)
• Dareka (誰か) Somebody (2003)
• ICO -Kirino shiro- (－霧の城－) (2004, ISBN 4062124416)
• Higurashi (日暮らし) (2005)　
• Koshukuno hito (孤宿の人) (2005)　
• Namonaki doku (名もなき毒) (2006, ISBN 4344012143)
• Rakuen (楽園) (2007)
• Osoroshi Mishimayahenchou Hyakumonogatari Kotohajime (おそろし 三島屋変調百物語事始)　(2008)　
• Eiyū no sho = The Book of Heroes (英雄の書) (2009)
• Kogure Shashinkan (小暮写真館)　(2010)

Works in English translation

• All She Was Worth (original title: Kasha), trans. Alfred Birnbaum (Mariner Books, 1999)
• Crossfire, trans. Deborah Iwabuchi and Anna Isozaki (Kodansha America, 2006)
• Shadow Family (original title: R.P.G.), trans. Juliet Winters Carpenter (Kodansha America, 2006)
• Brave Story, trans. Alexander O. Smith (VIZ Fiction, 2007)
• The Devil's Whisper (original title: Majutsu wa sasayaku), trans. Deborah Iwabuchi (Kodansha America, 2007)
• The Book of Heroes (original title: Eiyu no sho), trans. Alexander O. Smith (Haikasoru, 2010)
• The Sleeping Dragon (original title: Ryū wa nemuru), trans. Deborah Iwabuchi (Kodansha America, 2010)—the winner of the 45th Mystery Writers of Japan Award

Criticism

• Amanda C. Seaman, Bodies of Evidence: Women, Society, and Detective Fiction in 1990s Japan (University of Hawai'i Press, 2004), 26–56 (on All She Was Worth)
• Idem, "There goes the neighbourhood: community and family in Miyabe Miyuki's Riyû," Japan Forum 16/2 (2004): 271–87

Persondata
Name	Miyabe, Miyuki
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Date of birth	December 23, 1960
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