Asako Yuzuki

Asako Yuzuki (柚木 麻子, Yuzuki Asako, born 1981) 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.

Asako Yuzuki
Native name
柚木 麻子
Born1981 (age 41–42)
Tokyo, Japan
OccupationWriter
LanguageJapanese
Alma materRikkyo University
GenreFiction
Notable works
  • Nageki no bijo
  • Ranchi no Akko-chan
  • Itō-kun A to E
  • Nairu pāchi no joshikai
Notable awards

Early life and education

Yuzuki was born in Tokyo in 1981.[1] 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.[2] 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.[2] She later attended Rikkyo University, where she studied French literature.[3] 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.[2]

Career

In 2008 Yuzuki won the 88th All Yomimono Prize for New Writers for the story "Forget Me, Not Blue", about bullying in a Protestant all-girls school in Tokyo.[4] The story was first published in the literary magazine All Yomimono and later collected with three other connected stories into the 2010 volume Shūten no ano ko (終点のあの子), which became Yuzuki's first published book.[1] In 2011 her novel Nageki no bijo (嘆きの美女), about a woman who becomes frustrated with the prevalence of attractive people online and attempts to vandalize a beauty web site, was published by Asahi Shimbun and subsequently adapted into an NHK BS Premium television comedy series starring Akiko Yada.[5]

Yuzuki published several books in 2013, including Ōhi no kikan (王妃の帰還, Return of the Queen), Ranchi no Akko-chan (ランチのアッコちゃん), and Itō-kun A to E (伊藤くん A to E). 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.[6] It was later adapted into a 2018 NHK radio drama.[7] Akka's Lunches (ランチのアッコちゃん, Ranchi no Akko-chan), 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.[8] It was later adapted into a 2015 NHK BS Premium television drama of the same name, starring Misako Renbutsu and Naho Toda.[9]

Itō-kun A to E (伊藤くん A to E), 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.[10] She did not win, as the 150th Naoki Prize was awarded to Makate Asai and Kaoruko Himeno.[11] 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.[12] A movie version was also released in theaters.[13]

Yuzuki was subsequently nominated for the Naoki Prize several more times. Her novel Honya-san no Daiana (本屋さんのダイアナ, Diana the Book Clerk), 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.[14][15] She did not win, as the award went to Hiroyuki Kurakawa.[16] In 2015 Yuzuki's novel Nairu pāchi no joshikai (ナイルパーチの女子会, Nile Perch Women's Club), a story about two women whose lives intersect as one blackmails the other, was published by Bungeishunjū.[17] Nile Perch Women's Club won the 28th Yamamoto Shūgorō Prize.[18] It was also nominated for the 153rd Naoki Prize, but the award went to comedian Naoki Matayoshi.[19]

Yuzuki's fourth Naoki Prize nomination came in 2017, when her novel BUTTER was nominated for the 157th Naoki Prize.[20] 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.[21] Yuzuki did not win the 157th Naoki Prize, as the award went to Shogo Sato.[22]

In 2018, Yuzuki's novel Date Cleansing (デートクレンジング, Dēto kurenjingu) was published by Shōdensha.[23] The following year she was nominated a fifth time for the Naoki Prize, for her book Magical Grandma (マジカルグランマ, Majikaru Guranma).[24]

Recognition

Adaptations

Selected works
  • Shūten no ano ko (終点のあの子), Bungeishunjū, 2010, ISBN 9784163292106 (includes "Forget Me, Not Blue")
  • Nageki no bijo (嘆きの美女), Asahi Shimbun Shuppan, 2011, ISBN 9784022508935
  • Ōhi no kikan (王妃の帰還, Return of the Queen), Jitsugyō no Nihonsha, 2013, ISBN 9784408536194
  • Ranchi no Akko-chan (ランチのアッコちゃん), Futabasha, 2013, ISBN 9784575238198
  • Itō-kun A to E (伊藤くん A to E), Gentosha, 2013, ISBN 9784344024588
  • The Nile Perch Women's Club (ナイルパーチの女子会, Nairu pāchi no joshikai), Bungeishunjū, 2015, ISBN 9784163902296
  • BUTTER (バター, Batā), Shinchosha, 2017, ISBN 9784103355328
  • Date Cleansing (デートクレンジング, Dēto kurenjingu), Shōdensha, 2018, ISBN 9784396635411
  • Magical Grandma (マジカルグランマ, Majikaru Guranma), Asahi Shimbun Shuppan, 2019, ISBN 9784022516046

References
  1. "Authors: Asako Yuzuki". Books From Japan. Retrieved October 2, 2018.
  2. 瀧井, 朝世 (November 16, 2011). "作家の読書道　第120回：柚木麻子さん" [Author's Reading Road #120: Asako Yuzuki]. WEB本の雑誌 (in Japanese). Retrieved September 23, 2018.
  3. 夏目, 百合子 (June 17, 2015). "【百合子の一人遊び】女性にオススメ　柚木麻子さん「ナイルパーチの女子会」" [Yuriko's "Me Time" – Recommended for women: Nile Perch Women's Club by Asako Yuzuki]. Zakzak (in Japanese). Retrieved October 2, 2018.
  4. "２７歳＆３１歳　若い才能誕生！ "おひとりさま"はＳＭの女王". TV Asahi (in Japanese). October 22, 2008. Archived from the original on September 23, 2018. Retrieved September 23, 2018.
  5. "連続ドラマ初主演の黒沢かずこ「私そんなにブスだったんだ!?」". Eiga.com News (in Japanese). December 10, 2012. Retrieved September 27, 2018.
  6. 保田, 夏子 (June 3, 2013). "大人になっても続く、「自分の世界」を守るためのスクールカーストという戦い". Cyzo Woman (in Japanese). Retrieved October 2, 2018.
  7. "王妃の帰還" [Return of the Queen]. NHK (in Japanese). September 30, 2018. Retrieved October 2, 2018.
  8. "Akko's Lunches: Synopsis". Books From Japan. Retrieved October 2, 2018.
  9. "ドラマ『ランチのアッコちゃん』 蓮佛美沙子&戸田菜穂の出演決定". Oricon News (in Japanese). March 8, 2015. Retrieved September 27, 2018.
  10. "第150回「芥川賞・直木賞」候補11作決まる いとうせいこう氏が2回目の選出". Oricon News (in Japanese). December 20, 2013. Retrieved September 27, 2018.
  11. "Three Women Win Akutagawa, Naoki Literary Awards". The Japan Times. January 17, 2014. Retrieved October 2, 2018.
  12. "ドラマ『伊藤くん A to E』がNetflixで配信　佐々木希、夏帆らの場面写真も". Cinra.net (in Japanese). August 15, 2017. Retrieved September 22, 2018.
  13. "映画『伊藤くん A to E』に佐々木希、志田未来ら 連続ドラマ化も決定". Oricon News (in Japanese). June 30, 2017. Retrieved September 22, 2018.
  14. "芥川・直木賞 ノミネートに「諾否」、単行本化前倒しも…受賞作決定までの舞台裏" [Akutagawa and Naoki Prizes: Behind the scenes with nomination "negotiations" and selection of winning works, staying on schedule]. Mainichi Shimbun (in Japanese). July 17, 2014. Retrieved October 2, 2018.
  15. "Diana the Book Clerk: Synopsis". Books From Japan. Retrieved October 2, 2018.
  16. "Akutagawa, Naoki literary awards go to Shibasaki, Kurokawa". The Japan Times. July 17, 2014. Retrieved October 2, 2018.
  17. "Nile Perch Women's Club: Synopsis". Books From Japan. Retrieved October 2, 2018.
  18. "「読み始めたら止まらない」 山本周五郎賞に柚木麻子さん「ナイルパーチの女子会」". Sankei Shimbun (in Japanese). May 25, 2015. Retrieved September 22, 2018.
  19. "【芥川賞・直木賞】選考の舞台裏、教えます" [Akutagawa and Naoki Prizes: Behind the Scenes]. Sankei Shimbun (in Japanese). July 20, 2015. Retrieved September 22, 2018.
  20. "第157回「芥川賞・直木賞」候補作決まる 柚木麻子氏・宮内悠介氏ら直木賞ノミネート". Oricon News (in Japanese). June 20, 2017. Retrieved October 2, 2018.
  21. 瀧井, 朝世 (June 1, 2017). "第106回 柚木麻子さん BUTTER" [106th interview: Asako Yuzuki's BUTTER]. Shosetsu Maru (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Retrieved October 2, 2018.
  22. Kikuchi, Daisuke (July 19, 2017). "First-time writer Shinsuke Numata wins prestigious Akutagawa Prize". The Japan Times. Retrieved October 2, 2018.
  23. 瀧井, 朝世 (May 13, 2018). ""女の友情"は社会が決めている? 柚木麻子の意見". an-an News (in Japanese). Retrieved October 2, 2018.
  24. "令和初「芥川賞・直木賞」候補作発表 芥川賞は古市憲寿が連続選出、直木賞6作はすべて女性作家". Oricon News. June 17, 2019. Retrieved June 25, 2019.
  25. "オール讀物_081101". オール讀物 (All Yomimono). Bungeishunjū. Archived from the original on September 23, 2018. Retrieved September 23, 2018.
  26. "山本周五郎賞 過去の受賞作品" [Yamamoto Shūgorō Prize Past Winning Works] (in Japanese). Shinchosha. Retrieved September 22, 2018.
  27. "プレミアムよるドラマ「嘆きの美女」". NHK (in Japanese). Retrieved October 2, 2018.
  28. "ランチのアッコちゃん". NHK (in Japanese). Archived from the original on September 7, 2015. Retrieved October 2, 2018.
  29. "TVドラマ「伊藤くん A to E」". Mainichi Broadcasting System (in Japanese). Retrieved October 2, 2018.
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