Asako Yuzuki

is a Japanese writer. She has won the All Yomimono Prize for New Writers and the Yamamoto Shūgorō Prize, she has been nominated multiple times for the Naoki Prize, and her novels have been adapted for television, radio, and film.

Early life and education Yuzuki was born in Tokyo in 1981. During her early school years she read books by foreign authors, including Beverly Cleary's Ramona series, Anne of Green Gables, and Judy Blume's young adult novels. While in junior high school Yuzuki had a serious illness, and during her recovery she read the novel Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto, which convinced her to read more Japanese literature. After submitting a senior thesis on Honoré de Balzac and graduating from college Yuzuki worked for a confectionery maker, but later quit to focus on her writing. The story was first published in the literary magazine All Yomimono and later collected with three other connected stories into the 2010 volume , which became Yuzuki's first published book.

Yuzuki published several books in 2013, including , , and . Ōhi no kikan, a novel about a pretty girl who enters a clique of less popular manga and idol otaku girls in middle school, was published by Jitsugyō no Nihonsha. It was later adapted into a 2018 NHK radio drama. , a book containing four connected short stories about the increasingly personal relationship between a young office worker and her older female boss, was published by Futabasha. It was later adapted into a 2015 NHK BS Premium television drama of the same name, starring Misako Renbutsu and Naho Toda.

, a series of linked short stories about different women who are each interested in the same man, was published in 2013 by Gentosha. Ito-kun A to E was nominated for the 150th Naoki Prize, marking Yuzuki's first nomination for the prize. She did not win, as the 150th Naoki Prize was awarded to Makate Asai and Kaoruko Himeno. The book was later adapted into the 2017 romantic comedy television series The Many Faces of Ito, starring Fumino Kimura and directed by Ryūichi Hiroki. A movie version was also released in theaters.

Yuzuki was subsequently nominated for the Naoki Prize several more times. Her novel , a story about a years-long friendship between two girls from different backgrounds, was published by Shinchosha in 2014 and nominated for the 151st Naoki Prize. She did not win, as the award went to Hiroyuki Kurakawa. In 2015 Yuzuki's novel , a story about two women whose lives intersect as one blackmails the other, was published by Bungeishunjū. Nile Perch Women's Club won the 28th Yamamoto Shūgorō Prize. It was also nominated for the 153rd Naoki Prize.

Yuzuki's fourth Naoki Prize nomination came in 2017, when her novel Butter was nominated for the 157th Naoki Prize. Butter, a story about a reporter investigating a woman accused of luring men with her cooking and then killing them, was loosely based on an actual series of suspicious deaths of middle-aged men that led to murder convictions and a death sentence for Kanae Kijima. Yuzuki did not win the 157th Naoki Prize, as the award went to Shogo Sato.

In 2018, Yuzuki's novel was published by Shōdensha. The following year she was nominated a fifth time for the Naoki Prize, for her book .

Yuzuki's 2017 novel Butter was translated into English by Polly Barton and published in 2024 as Butter: A Novel of Food and Murder, her first book to be published in English. It was named Waterstones Book of the Year 2024. Her 2015 novel Nairu pāchi no joshikai was also translated into English by Barton and published in 2026 as Hooked: A Novel of Obsession.

Recognition 2008 88th All Yomimono Prize for New Writers 2015 28th Yamamoto Shūgorō Prize

Adaptations Nageki no bijo, NHK BS Premium, 2013 Ranchi no Akko-chan, NHK BS Premium, 2015 The Many Faces of Ito, MBS/Netflix, 2017 Ōhi no kikan, NHK FM (radio), 2018

Selected works , Bungeishunjū, 2010, (includes "Forget Me, Not Blue") , Asahi Shimbun Shuppan, 2011, , Fusosha Publishing, 2012, , Jitsugyō no Nihonsha, 2013, , Futabasha, 2013, , Gentosha, 2013, , Bungeishunjū, 2015, , Shinchosha, 2017, , Shōdensha, 2018, , Asahi Shimbun Shuppan, 2019,