Natsuo Kirino

(born October 7, 1951, in Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture) is the pen name of Mariko Hashioka, a Japanese novelist and a leading figure in the recent boom of female writers of Japanese detective fiction. In 1981 she gave birth to her daughter. She soon discovered it wasn't right for her and just before her thirteenth birthday she started taking scriptwriting classes. It wasn't until she was in her thirties that she began to seriously think about becoming a writer, and it wasn't until her forties that she became popular as a writer.

Literary career Kirino began her writing career in 1984, when she started composing novels in the romantic genre. However, these types of novels were not popular in Japan, so she found it difficult to make a living while writing them.

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 Prize for mystery fiction for her debut novel, Kao ni Furikakaru Ame (Rain Falling on My Face), and the 1999 Naoki Prize for her novel Yawarakana hoho (Soft Cheeks). A further novel, Swallows is scheduled for publication in 2025.

In spite of writing in stories in the genre, Kirino does not particularly like mysteries. For influential books from her childhood, Kirino cites Two Years' Vacation, The Three Musketeers, and Little Women as favorites. By doing this, Kirino "implicates [the reader] in the voyeuristic pleasure of the detective genre by making [the reader] conscious of [the] act of watching." In fact, the plot of Out has been described as a framework for her critique of "the problems of ordinary women in contemporary Japanese society."

Research - Kirino researches her books for approximately six months. For Out, she visited a pathology autopsy class at a university but was not able to view a real corpse. Instead, she interviewed a pathologist and took notes on the details of their operations, such as wearing goggles while dismembering a body due to the flying shards of bone. “In terms of that dismemberment scene,” Kirino says, “I actually was thinking about cooking while I was writing. When I later heard a doctor say that the description of my novel wasn't far off from the way they do it, I was quite relieved.”

Grotesque (original title: Gurotesuku), trans. Rebecca L. Copeland (New York: Knopf, 2007) Real World (original title: Riaru Wārudo), trans. Philip Gabriel (New York: Knopf, 2008) Swallows (original title: Tsubame wa Modotte Konai), trans. Lisa Hofmann-Kuroda (Penguin Random House, 2022)

Other novels The Goddess Chronicle (original title: Joshinki), trans. Rebecca Copeland (Edinburgh: Canongate Books, 2013)

Short stories Tokyo Island (original title: Tōkyō-jima), trans. Philip Gabriel (Granta, No.110, 2010 Spring, p. 31-50) In Goats' Eyes Is the Sky Blue? (original title: Yagi no Me wa Sora o Aoku Utsusu ka), trans. Philip Gabriel (Granta's website, July 2010 ) The Floating Forest (original title: Ukishima no Mori), trans. Jonathan W. Lawless (Digital Geishas and Talking Frogs: The Best 21st Century Short Stories from Japan, Cheng & Tsui Company, 2011)

Awards and nominations Japanese Awards 1993 – Edogawa Rampo Prize: Kao ni Furikakaru Ame (Rain Falling on My Face) 1998 – Mystery Writers of Japan Award for Best Novel: Out

U.S. Awards 2004 – Nominee for Edgar Award for Best Novel: OutMajor works

Detective Miro Murano series Novels Kao ni furikakaru ame (Tokyo: Kodansha, 1993) Tenshi ni misuterareta yoru (Tokyo: Kodansha, 1994) Mizu no nemuri hai no yume (Tokyo: Bungei Shunju, 1998) Dāku [Dark] (Tokyo: Kodansha: 2002) Short story collection Rōzu gāden [Rose Garden] (Tokyo: Kodansha, 2000)

Fireball Blues Faiabōru burūsu [Fireball Blues] (Tokyo: Shueisha, 1995) Faiabōru burūsu 2 [Fireball Blues 2] (Tokyo: Bungei Shunju, 2001)

Standalone novels Auto (Tokyo: Kodansha, 1997); English translation by Stephen Snyder as Out (New York: Kodansha, 2003; New York: Vintage, 2005) Yawarakana hoho (Tokyo: Kodansha, 1999); Kogen (Tokyo: Bungei Shunju, 2000) Gyokuran (Tokyo: Asahi Shinbunsha, 2001) Riaru warudo (Tokyo: Shueisha, 2003); English translation by J. Philip Gabriel as Real World (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2008) Gurotesuku (Tokyo: Bungei Shunju, 2003); English translation by Rebecca L. Copeland as Grotesque (New York: Knopf, 2007) Zangyakuki (Tokyo: Shinchosha, 2004) Aimu sōrī mama [I'm sorry, mama.] (Tokyo: Shueisha, 2004) Tamamoe! (Tokyo: Mainichi Shinbunsha, 2005) Bōken no kuni (Tokyo: Shinchosha, 2005) Metabora (Tokyo: Asahi Shinbunsha, 2007) Tōkyō-jima (Tokyo: Shinchosha, 2008) Joshinki (Tokyo: Kadokawa Shoten, 2008); English translation by Rebecca L. Copeland as The Goddess Chronicle (Edinburgh: Canongate Books, 2013) In [In] (Tokyo: Shueisha, 2009) Nanika aru (Tokyo: Shinchosha, 2010) Yasashii Otona (Tokyo: Chuokoron-Shinsha, 2010) Poritikon (Tokyo: Bungei Shunju, 2011) Midori no doku (Tokyo: Kadokawa Shoten, 2011) Hapinesu [Happiness] (Tokyo: Kōbunsha, 2013)

Short story collections Sabiru kokoro (Tokyo: Bungei Shunju, 1997) Jiorama [Diorama] (Tokyo: Shinchosha, 1998) Ambosu mundosu [Ambos Mundos] (Tokyo: Bungei Shunju, 2005)