Naomi Hirahara

Naomi Hirahara (, born 1962) is an American mystery writer and journalist. She edited the largest Japanese-American daily newspaper, Rafu Shimpo, for several years. She is currently a writer of both fiction and non-fiction works and the Edgar Award-winning Mas Arai mystery series.

Biography Naomi Hirahara was born in 1962 in Pasadena, California, to father, Isamu, Kibei born in Watsonville, and mother, Mayumi, born in Hiroshima. Both parents were survivors of the Hiroshima bombing. She began writing when she was in elementary school in Altadena, California. She received her bachelor's degree from Stanford University in international relations with a focus on Africa and spent a summer during her studies volunteering with the YWCA in Ghana. After her 1983 graduation, and committed to working full-time as a creative writer. which later that year named it one of the "10 best mysteries and thrillers of 2004". Publishers Weekly named it one of the "Best Books of 2004". The book turned out to be the first of a series about an aging Japanese-American gardener, Mas Arai, a survivor of the atomic bomb, but the character was American-born. Though he has a college degree, racial prejudice prevents him from obtaining other work, and he becomes a gardener, mirroring Hirahara's father's experience. Mas Arai became the featured character in Gasa Gasa Girl, Snakeskin Shamishen, Blood Hina and Strawberry Yellow. (Strawberry Yellow takes place in Watsonville, California and at the Redman Hirahara Farmstead.) In 2007, the third book in her series, Snakeskin Shamishen won the Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America. The following year, the series began being released in Japan. and has been featured as a "Best Book" by Publishers Weekly. Her next book, Crown City, is being released February 2026.

Awards and honors Summer of the Big Bachi was named one of the "10 best mysteries and thrillers of 2004" by the Chicago Tribune, Two years later, they included Clark and Division on their list of the year's best crime novels. Amazon also included the novel on their list of the year's best Mysteries and Thrillers.

Selected works Mas Arai series

Ellie Rush series

Leilani Santiago series

A Japantown Mystery series

Other fiction

South Central noir, Akashic Books 2022.

Non-fiction

Hirahara Naomi and Illi Ferandez. We Are Here : 30 Inspiring Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders Who Have Shaped the United States. First ed. Running Press Kids 2022.