Japanese Literary Awards

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Natsuo Kirino

きりの なつお

Kirino Natsuo

Pen Names: Nobara Noemi（Pen name used for romance and junior novels）, Kirino Natsuko（Alternate pen name briefly used to avoid confusion with male names）

Profile

Gender
Female
Born
1951-10-07 （Kanazawa, Ishikawa, Japan）
Nationality
Japan
Languages
Japanese
Residence History
Kanazawa, Ishikawa (born) → Sendai, Miyagi → Sapporo, Hokkaido → Musashino, Tokyo

Career

Occupations
Novelist, Freelance writer, Manga original author
Active Years
1984-
Affiliations
Japan PEN Club
Memberships
Japan PEN Club
Influenced By
Fumiko Hayashi, Sam Peckinpah
Nominations
2004 Edgar Awards — finalist (Out), 2006 Kawabata Yasunari Literary Prize — candidate (Uerim), 2007 Kawabata Yasunari Literary Prize — candidate (Tamasu-kun), 2009 Sense of Gender Award — finalist (Megami-ki)

Education

Toho Girls' High School
Country: Japan
Seikei University
Faculty of Law
Country: Japan
After graduation worked in editing and as a freelance writer before debuting as an author

Awards

Sanrio Romance Award (Honorable Mention)
1984
Work: Ai no Yukue
Organization: Sanrio
Result: 佳作 (honorable mention)
Edogawa Rampo Award
1993
Work: Rain That Falls on the Face (Kaō ni Furikakaru Ame)
Organization: Mystery Writers of Japan
Result: 受賞
Mystery Writers of Japan Award
1998
Work: Out
Organization: Mystery Writers of Japan
Result: 受賞
Naoki Prize
1999
Work: Soft Cheeks
Organization: Naoki Prize Selection Committee
Result: 受賞
Izumi Kyoka Literary Prize
2003
Work: Grotesque
Organization: Izumi Kyoka Prize Committee
Result: 受賞
Shibata Renzaburo Prize
2004
Work: Record of Atrocities (Zangyakuki)
Organization: Shibata Renzaburo Prize Committee
Result: 受賞
Edgar Award (Best Novel) — nomination
2004
Work: Out
Organization: Mystery Writers of America (Edgar Awards)
Result: 最終候補（ノミネート）
Fujin Koron Literary Prize
2005
Work: Tamamo-e! (Tamomoe!)
Organization: Chukoron-Shinsha (Fujin Koron Literary Prize)
Result: 受賞
Tanizaki Jun'ichiro Prize
2008
Work: Tokyo Island
Organization: Tanizaki Prize Committee
Result: 受賞
Murasaki Shikibu Literary Prize
2009
Work: Megami-ki (The Goddess Chronicle)
Organization: Murasaki Shikibu Prize Committee
Result: 受賞
Shimasei Love Literature Prize
2010
Work: Nanikaaru
Organization: Shimasei Love Literature Prize Committee
Result: 受賞
Yomiuri Literature Prize
2011
Work: Nanikaaru
Organization: Yomiuri Shimbun
Result: 受賞
Medal with Purple Ribbon
2015
Category: 栄典
Organization: Government of Japan
Result: 受章
Waseda University Tsubouchi Shōyō Prize
2021
Organization: Waseda University
Result: 受賞
Mainichi Art Award
2023
Work: The Swallows Don't Return
Organization: Mainichi Shimbun
Result: 受賞
Yoshikawa Eiji Literary Prize
2023
Organization: Yoshikawa Eiji Prize Committee
Result: 受賞
Japan Art Academy Prize
2024
Organization: Japan Art Academy
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Rain That Falls on the Face

1993 Mystery / Hard-boiled

The first book in the Murano Miro series. A hard‑boiled novel depicting crime and violence from a female perspective.

crimeviolenceurban lonelinesswomen
Adaptations
  • [TV drama] Rain That Falls on the Face (1994)

Out

1997 Mystery / Social novel

A representative work that meticulously portrays ordinary part‑time housewives becoming embroiled in crime. It has received international recognition and multiple translations.

womencrimefamilysolidarity and betrayal
Adaptations
  • [TV drama] OUT — Crimes of Wives (1999)
  • [Film] Out / 平山秀幸 (2002)
Translations
  • English translation: Steven Schneider (Kodansha International)
  • Italian translation: Le quattro casalinghe di Tokyo (Lydia Origlia)

Soft Cheeks

1999 Literary fiction

A novel delicately exploring women's inner lives and relationships. Winner of the Naoki Prize.

female psychologyfamilymemory
Adaptations
  • [Film] Soft Cheeks / 長崎俊一 (2001)
Translations
  • French translation: Disparitions (Silvain Chupin)

Grotesque

2003 Mystery / Social novel

A provocative novel depicting the darker sides of humanity through people living on society's margins and acts of violence.

violencemarginalizationwomen
Translations
  • English translation: Grotesque (Rebecca Copeland)

Tokyo Island

2008 Literary fiction

A novel about communal life on an isolated island that explores human relationships and the fragility of civilization. Winner of the Tanizaki Prize.

isolationcommunitycritique of civilization
Adaptations
  • [Film] Tokyo Island / 篠崎誠 (2010)
Translations
  • Italian translation: L'isola dei naufraghi (Gianluca Coci)

Nanikaaru

2010 Literary / Biographical novel

A novel incorporating biographical elements about Fumiko Hayashi; it received critical acclaim and won multiple prizes.

biographyfemale authorsliterary history

The Swallows Don't Return

2022 Literary fiction

One of her recent major works, a novel that captures intersections of society and individual lives. Winner of the Mainichi Art Award and Yoshikawa Eiji Prize.

societylossregeneration
Adaptations
  • [TV drama] The Swallows Don't Return (2024)

Bibliography

  • Ai no Yukue
  • Atsui Mizu no Yō na Suna
  • Mahiru no Rain
  • Rain That Falls on the Face
  • Out
  • Soft Cheeks
  • Grotesque
  • Tokyo Island
  • Nanikaaru
  • The Swallows Don't Return
  • Record of Atrocities
  • Tamamo-e!
  • Real World

Adaptations

  • Rain That Falls on the Face (1994 TV drama)
  • Out (1999 TV drama / 2002 film)
  • Soft Cheeks (2001 film / TV adaptation)
  • Tamamo-e! (2006 NHK TV drama / 2007 film)
  • Tokyo Island (2010 film)
  • The Swallows Don't Return (2024 NHK drama)

Translations of Works

  • 'Soft Cheeks' → Disparitions (French, trans. Silvain Chupin)
  • 'Out' → Out (English, trans. Steven Schneider)
  • 'Out' → Le quattro casalinghe di Tokyo (Italian, trans. Lydia Origlia)
  • 'Grotesque' → Grotesque (English, trans. Rebecca Copeland)
  • 'Real World' → Real World (English, trans. Philip Gabriel)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
hard‑boiled influenced prosesocial realismcool, precise psychological depiction
Recurring Motifs
urban darknesswomen's loneliness and solidarityfamily breakdownclass and labor issues

Legacy

A major contemporary Japanese author who established hard‑boiled and socially‑oriented fiction from a female perspective. With numerous awards, adaptations and translations, she is widely acclaimed domestically and internationally. She also exerts cultural influence through public roles, becoming the first female president of the Japan PEN Club in 2021.

Academic Societies

  • Japan PEN Club

In Popular Culture

  • Widely known through film and TV adaptations such as Out and Tokyo Island
  • Frequently cited in media as a leading figure in Japanese crime fiction and women's literature

Quotes

  • Kirino herself recalled these alternate pen names as "a history of humiliation."
    Source: Wikipedia: Natsuo Kirino profile

Trivia

  • In her youth she was a fan of the Hiroshima Carp and attended games at Jingu Stadium.
  • Her pen name was taken from characters in works by Ryotaro Shiba and Minako Oba.
  • She collaborated for years with manga artist Morizono Miruku on ladies' comics, a collaboration that paused after her success as a novelist.
  • Elected the 18th president of the Japan PEN Club — the organization's first female president.