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. She has won 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 ...

, the Kawabata Yasunari Prize, and the

Tanizaki Prize The Tanizaki Prize (谷崎潤一郎賞 ''Tanizaki Jun'ichirō Shō''), named in honor of the Japanese novelist Jun'ichirō Tanizaki, is one of Japan's most sought-after literary awards. It was established in 1965 by the publishing company Chūō K� ...

, and her work has been adapted for film.

Biography

After graduation from Shinjuku High School and

Waseda University Waseda University (Japanese: ), abbreviated as or , is a private university, private research university in Shinjuku, Tokyo. Founded in 1882 as the Tōkyō Professional School by Ōkuma Shigenobu, the fifth Prime Minister of Japan, prime ministe ...

, she worked as a saleswoman for a major household equipment company and, as is common in Japanese corporate life, was transferred several times to various localities. Treatment for cyclic psychosis led to her writing. Her works, which focus on human relations, have been nominated for and received literary awards. She was recipient of the 96th ''Bungakukai New Face Award'' and a nominee for the 129th Akutagawa Prize for her first volume, ', in 2003. The book was later adapted into the 2005

Ryūichi Hiroki is a Japanese film director. He won critical acclaim for '' 800 Two Lap Runners''. Film critic and researcher Alexander Jacoby has described Hiroki as "one of the modern Japanese cinema's most intelligent students of character". Biography ''Pink ...

film '' It's Only Talk''. Itoyama won the

in January 2006 for her short story "Oki de matsu". An English translation of her "Oki de matsu" appeared in the April 2007 issue of ''Words Without Borders'' under the title "Waiting in the Offing." Her book ' was adapted into a 2007 film starring

Minami Hinase , known professionally as , is a Japanese actress of half French descent. Biography Minami was born in Tokyo, Japan on 22 September 1986. She is internationally known for her role as Shogo Kawada's girlfriend Keiko Onuki in the critically accl ...

. An English version of the book, translated by Charles de Wolf, was published in 2013 under the title ''In Pursuit of Lavender''. An English translation of ''It's Only Talk'' was published by ''

The Japan Times ''The Japan Times'' is Japan's largest and oldest English-language daily newspaper. It is published by , a subsidiary of News2u Holdings, Inc. It is headquartered in the in Kioicho, Chiyoda, Tokyo. History ''The Japan Times'' was launched by ...

'' in March 2009. In 2010 her novel ' was adapted into a film by

Shusuke Kaneko is a Japanese filmmaker. Life and career Shūsuke Kaneko was born in Tokyo on June 8, 1955. According to the biography on his official website Kaneko was interested in science fiction, particularly Godzilla and Gamera films, from a young age. H ...

. In 2016 Itoyama won the 52nd

for her 2015 book '. She has been praised for her ability to describe provincial scenery and represent regional accents and dialects, reflecting the characters' image, even though she was brought up in Tokyo. She explains that she learned them through repeated company transfers all over Japan.

Recognition

* 2004 55th

MEXT The , also known as MEXT, is one of the eleven ministries of Japan that compose part of the executive branch of the government of Japan. History The Meiji period, Meiji government created the first Ministry of Education in 1871. In January 2001 ...

Award for New Artists * 2004 30th Kawabata Yasunari Prize * 2006 134th

(2005下) * 2016 52nd

Bibliography

Books in Japanese

* ',

Bungeishunjū is a Japanese publishing company known for its leading monthly magazine '' Bungeishunjū''. The company was founded by Kan Kikuchi in 1923. It grants the annual Akutagawa Prize, one of the most prestigious literary awards in Japan, as well a ...

, 2004, (won the 96th Bungakukai New Face Award, nominated for the 129th Akutagawa Prize) * ',

Shinchosha is a publisher founded in 1896 in Japan and headquartered in , Shinjuku, Tokyo. Shinchosha is one of the sponsors of the Japan Fantasy Novel Award. Books * Haruki Murakami: '' Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World'' (1985), '' Ute ...

, 2004, (nominated for the 130th Akutagawa Prize, also won the Minister of Education and Science's Art Encouragement Prize for New Artists, in book form) * ',

Kodansha is a Japanese privately held publishing company headquartered in Bunkyō, Tokyo. Kodansha publishes manga magazines which include ''Nakayoshi'', ''Morning (magazine), Morning'', ''Afternoon (magazine), Afternoon'', ''Evening (magazine), Eveni ...

, 2004, (won the 30th Kawabata Yasunari Prize) * ', Chuokoron Shinsha, 2005, (nominated for the 133rd

Naoki Prize The Naoki Prize, officially , is a Japanese literary award presented biannually. It was created in 1935 by Kikuchi Kan, then editor of the ''Bungeishunjū'' magazine, and named in memory of novelist Naoki Sanjugo. Sponsored by the Society for ...

and New Face Award of the 27th

Noma Prize The Noma Prizes were established by Shoichi Noma, or in his honor. More than one award is conventionally identified as the ''Noma Prize''. Noma was the former head of Kodansha, the Japanese publishing and bookselling company. Kodansha is Japan's ...

for Literature) * ', Nigensha, 2005, * ',

Kadokawa Shoten , formerly , is a Japanese publisher and division of Kadokawa Future Publishing based in Tokyo, Japan. It became an internal division of Kadokawa Corporation on October 1, 2013. Kadokawa publishes manga, light novels, manga anthology magazines ...

, 2005, * ', Bungeishunjū, 2006, (won the 134th Akutagawa Prize) :* includes 勤労感謝の日 ''Kinrō kansha no hi'' (Labor Thanksgiving Day), nominated for the 131st Akutagawa Prize * ', Shinchosha, 2008, * ', Bungeishunjū, 2014, * ', Shinchosha, 2015,

Selected works in English

* "Waiting in the Offing," trans. Charles de Wolf, ''Words Without Borders'', April 2007 issue * ''It's Only Talk'', trans. Raquel Hill,

, 2009, * ''In Pursuit of Lavender'', trans. Charles de Wolf, Anthem Press, 2013,

References

External links

Akiko Itoyama
at J'Lit Books from Japan

at JLPP (Japanese Literature Publishing Project) {{DEFAULTSORT:Itoyama, Akiko 20th-century Japanese novelists 21st-century Japanese novelists Akutagawa Prize winners 1966 births People from Setagaya Living people Waseda University alumni