is a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while other ...

. Her novel ''Hebi ni piasu'' (''

Snakes and Earrings is a Japanese novel by Hitomi Kanehara. The story follows Lui, a young woman in Tokyo whose fascination with body modification and BDSM, sadomasochistic sexual activity drives her to make increasingly dangerous personal choices. First published ...

'') won the Shōsetsu Subaru Literary Prize and the

Akutagawa Prize The is a Japanese literary award presented biannually. Because of its prestige and the considerable attention the winner receives from the media, it is, along with the Naoki Prize, one of Japan's most sought after literary prizes. History Th ...

, and sold over a million copies in Japan. Her work has been translated into more than a dozen languages worldwide.

Early life

Kanehara was born in

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

, Japan. During elementary school she spent a year in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

with her father. At age 11, she dropped out of school, and at age 15 she left home. After leaving home, Kanehara pursued her passion for writing. Her father, Mizuhito Kanehara, a literary

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

and

translator Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''trans ...

children's literature Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. In addition to conventional literary genres, modern children's literature is classified by the intended age of the reade ...

, continued to support her.

Career

Kanehara wrote her first novel, ''Hebi ni piasu'' (''

''), at the age of 21. The novel won the Shōsetsu Subaru Literary Prize and the

(judged by novelist

Ryū Murakami is a Japanese novelist, essayist and filmmaker. His novels explore human nature through themes of disillusion, drug use, surrealism, murder and war, set against the dark backdrop of Japan. His best known novels are '' Almost Transparent Blue'', ' ...

), and became a Japanese bestseller, going on to sell more than one million copies. Kanehara and fellow 2003

honoree

Risa Wataya is a female Japanese novelist from Kyoto. Her short novel ''Keritai senaka'' won the Akutagawa Prize and has sold more than a million copies. Wataya has also won the Bungei Prize and the Kenzaburo Oe Prize. Her work has been translated into Ge ...

remain the youngest people ever to receive the

. In the same year that she won the

, Kanehara got married. Kanehara's novel ''Autofiction'', with a story that unfolds in reverse chronological order, was published in Japan in 2006. In 2007 an English version of ''Autofiction'', translated by David James Karashima, was published by

Vintage Books Vintage Books is a trade paperback publishing imprint of Penguin Random House originally established by Alfred A. Knopf in 1954. The company was acquired by Random House in April 1960, and a British division was set up in 1990. After Random Ho ...

under the same name, and her novel ''Haidora'' (''Hydra'') appeared in print in Japan. A film adaptation of ''Hebi ni piasu'', directed by

Yukio Ninagawa was a Japanese theatre director, actor and film director, particularly known for his Japanese language productions of the Greek tragedies as well as Shakespeare—he directed eight distinct renditions of ''Hamlet.'' Ninagawa was also emeritus of ...

and starring

Yuriko Yoshitaka is a Japanese actress. She has played numerous roles in film and television, including lead roles in '' Snakes and Earrings'', '' Yurigokoro'', and the NHK asadora ''Hanako to Anne''. Career At age 16, her first year of high school, Yoshitaka ...

in the lead role, premiered in 2008. Kanehara's novel ''Torippu torappu'' (''TRIP TRAP'') was published in 2009, and won the 2010 Sakunosuke Oda Prize. When the

Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster The Fukushima nuclear accident was a major nuclear accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Ōkuma, Fukushima, Japan, which began on 11 March 2011. The cause of the accident was the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, which r ...

occurred in 2011, Kanehara left

for

Okayama is the prefectural capital, capital Cities of Japan, city of Okayama Prefecture in the Chūgoku region of Japan. The Okayama metropolitan area, centered around the city, has the largest urban employment zone in the Chugoku region of western J ...

out of concerns about the effects of

radiation In physics, radiation is the emission or transmission of energy in the form of waves or particles through space or a material medium. This includes: * ''electromagnetic radiation'' consisting of photons, such as radio waves, microwaves, infr ...

on her children. In 2012 she moved to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, and her book ''Mazāzu'' (''Mothers'') won the Bunkamura Deux Magots Literary Prize. While living in France with her husband and two daughters, Kanehara wrote several books, including ''Keihaku'' (''Flirty'') in 2016 and ''Kuraudo gāru'' (''Cloud Girl'') in 2017. After living in France for six years, in 2018 she and her family returned to Japan, where her essay collection ''Pari no Sabaku, Tōkyō no Shinkirō'' (''Paris Desert, Tokyo Mirage''), was published in 2020.

Writing style

Kanehara's early work is known for its graphic depictions of

sexual activity Human sexual activity, human sexual practice or human sexual behaviour is the manner in which humans experience and express their sexuality. People engage in a variety of sexual acts, ranging from activities done alone (e.g., masturbation) t ...

violence Violence is characterized as the use of physical force by humans to cause harm to other living beings, or property, such as pain, injury, disablement, death, damage and destruction. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines violence a ...

body modification Body modification (or body alteration) is the deliberate altering of the human anatomy or human physical appearance. In its broadest definition it includes skin tattooing, socially acceptable decoration (''e.g.'', common earring, ear piercing in ...

pedophilia Pedophilia ( alternatively spelled paedophilia) is a psychiatric disorder in which an adult or older adolescent experiences a primary or exclusive sexual attraction to prepubescent children. Although girls typically begin the process of pube ...

anorexia Anorexia nervosa (AN), often referred to simply as anorexia, is an eating disorder characterized by Calorie restriction, food restriction, body image disturbance, fear of gaining weight, and an overpowering desire to be thin. Individuals wit ...

bulimia Bulimia nervosa, also known simply as bulimia, is an eating disorder characterized by binge eating (eating large quantities of food in a short period of time, often feeling out of control) followed by compensatory behaviors, such as self-induc ...

, and

self-harm Self-harm refers to intentional behaviors that cause harm to oneself. This is most commonly regarded as direct injury of one's own skin tissues, usually without suicidal intention. Other terms such as cutting, self-abuse, self-injury, and s ...

. Kanehara has claimed that her own experiences with

have inspired her fictional settings and characters, and reviews of ''Hebi ni piasu'' and ''Autofiction'' regularly focused on her own appearance and behavior. A common theme in her work is personal choice, with characters often making choices that place them outside societal norms in order to take control of their own actions and consequences. As Kanehara has explored this theme in her later work in the context of motherhood and family rather than youth and sex, media attention to her work has declined.

Recognition

* 2003 Subaru Literary Prize (

Shueisha is a Japanese publishing company headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. Shueisha is the largest publishing company in Japan. It was established in 1925 as the entertainment-related publishing division of Japanese publisher Shogakukan. The ...

) for ''Hebi ni piasu'' (''

'') * 2004 130th Akutagawa Prize (2003下) for ''Hebi ni piasu'' (''

'') * 2010 Sakunosuke Oda Prize for ''Torippu Torappu'' (''Trip Trap'') * 2012 Bunkamura Deux Magots Literary Prize for ''Mazāzu'' (''Mothers'') * 2020 Watanabe Junichi Literary Prize for ''Antarakusha'' (''Ataraxia'') * 2021 Tanizaki Jun'ichirō Prize for ''Ansōsharudisutansu'' (''Unsocial Distance'')

Films and other adaptations

* ''Hebi ni piasu'' (''Snakes and Earrings''), 2008

Bibliography

Books in Japanese

* '' Hebi ni piasu'' (''Snakes and earrings''), Shūeisha, 2004, * ''Ash Baby'', Shūeisha, 2004, * ''AMEBIC'', Shūeisha, 2005, * ''

Autofiction Autofiction is, in literary criticism, a form of fictionalized autobiography. Definition In autofiction, an author may decide to recount their life in the Third-person narrative, third person, to modify significant details and characters, use in ...

,'' Shūeisha, 2006, * ''Hydra'', Shinchosha, 2007, * ''Hoshi e ochiru'', Shūeisha, 2007, * ''Torippu Torappu'' (''Trip Trap''), Kadokawa Shoten, 2009, * ''Yūutsutachi'', Bungei Shunju, 2009, * ''Mazāzu'' (''Mothers''), Shinchōsha, 2011, * ''Marriage Marriage'', Shinchōsha, 2012, * ''Motazaru mono'' (''The Have-Nots''), Shūeisha, 2015, * ''Keihaku'' (''Flirty'') Shinchōsha, 2016, * ''Kuraudo gāru'' (''Cloud Girl''), Asahi Shimbun, 2017, * ''Antarakusha'' (''Ataraxia'')'','' Shūeisha, 2019, * ''Pari no sabaku, Tōkyō no shinkirō'' (''Parisien Deserts, Tokyo Mirage''), 2020, Hōmusha, * ''Fishy'', 2020, Asahi Shinbun Shuppan, * ''Ansōsharudisutansu'' (''Unsocial Distance''), 2021, Shinchōsha, * ''Mītsu za wārudo'' (''Meets the world''), 2022, Shūeisha, * ''Dekurinezon'' (''Déclinaison''), 2022, Hōmusha, * ''Hara o sukaseta yūshadomo'' (''The hungry brave''), 2023, Kawadeshobō, * ''Hajikete mazare'' (''Burst Open and Mix''), 2023, Kōdansha, * ''Nachuraru bōn chikin'' (Natural Born Chicken) , 2024, Kawadeshobō, 　

Selected work in English

* ''

'', trans. David James Karashima, Dutton, 2005, * ''

'', trans. David James Karashima, Vintage Books, 2007, * "Mambo", trans. Dan Bradley, ''The Book of Tokyo: A City in Short Fiction'', 2015 * "Delira", trans. Dan Bradley, ''

Granta ''Granta'' is a literary magazine and publisher in the United Kingdom whose mission centres on its "belief in the power and urgency of the story, both in fiction and non-fiction, and the story's supreme ability to describe, illuminate and make ...

'', October 10, 2015 * "Aiguille" and "Pute", trans. Morgan Giles, ''

'', November 11, 2020

References

External links

J'Lit , Authors : Hitomi Kanehara* , Books from Japan
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kanehara, Hitomi 1983 births Living people 21st-century Japanese novelists Akutagawa Prize winners Japanese women novelists 21st-century Japanese women writers