, known by her

pen name A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...

, is a Japanese writer. Onda has won the Yoshikawa Eiji Prize for New Writers, the

Japan Booksellers' Award is an annual Japan, Japanese literary award. It is awarded based on votes by bookstore clerks from all over Japan. Winners Excellent translations See also * CD Shop Awards References External links * J'Lit , Awards : Booksel ...

, the

Mystery Writers of Japan Award The are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of Japan. They honor the best in crime fiction and critical/biographical work published in the previous year. MWJ Award for Best Novel winners (1948–1951, 1976–present) MWJ Award for Be ...

for Best Novel, the

Yamamoto Shūgorō Prize The is a Japanese literary award established in 1988 in memory of author Shūgorō Yamamoto. It was created and continues to be sponsored by the Shinchosha Publishing company, which published Yamamoto's ''Complete Works''. The prize is awarded ann ...

, and the

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 ...

. Her work has been adapted for film and television.

Early life and education

Nanae Kumagai was born in 1964 in

Aomori , officially Aomori City (, ), is the capital Cities of Japan, city of Aomori Prefecture, in the Tōhoku region of Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 264,945 in 136,781 households, and a population density of 321 people per squa ...

, Japan but raised in

Sendai is the capital Cities of Japan, city of Miyagi Prefecture and the largest city in the Tōhoku region. , the city had a population of 1,098,335 in 539,698 households, making it the List of cities in Japan, twelfth most populated city in Japan. ...

Miyagi Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. Miyagi Prefecture has a population of 2,265,724 (1 August 2023) and has a geographic area of . Miyagi Prefecture borders Iwate Prefecture to the north, Akit ...

. She graduated from

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 ...

in 1987 and worked in an office for several years, then quit her job to try writing a novel after reading

Ken'ichi Sakemi was a Japanese writer. Sakemi is known for his novels with Chinese themes. And his work is renowned for his unbridled imagination, based on Chinese history but not restricted by it. His works have attracted a lot of attention from other fields ...

's 1991 novel '.

Career

Onda made her literary debut in 1992 with the novel ', which was adapted into the 2000

NHK , also known by its Romanization of Japanese, romanized initialism NHK, is a Japanese public broadcasting, public broadcaster. It is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television licence, television license fee. NHK ope ...

show ' starring

Anne Suzuki is a Japanese actress. Career Suzuki co-starred in Shunji Iwai's '' Hana and Alice'' with Yū Aoi. She voiced the title character Ray Steam in Katsuhiro Otomo's animated film ''Steamboy''. Suzuki played a supporting role in Andrew Lau and Al ...

and

Chiaki Kuriyama is a Japanese actress, singer, and model. She played Takako Chigusa in Kinji Fukasaku's 2000 film '' Battle Royale'', Gogo Yubari in Quentin Tarantino's 2003 film '' Kill Bill: Volume 1'', and Yuko Mizushima in Sion Sono's 2007 film ''Exte''. ...

. More novels and adaptations followed, including the 1999 novel ', which was adapted into a 2002 film, and the 2000 novel ', which was adapted into a 2001 TBS television series starring

Tsubasa Imai is a Japanese singer, actor and dancer formerly in the Japanese agency Johnny & Associates. He joined Johnny & Associates in 1995 and officially debuted in 2002 in the duo Tackey & Tsubasa with Hideaki Takizawa. They are signed to the record labe ...

. In 2005 Onda won the 26th Yoshikawa Eiji Prize for New Writers and the 2nd

Grand Prize for her novel ', a story about two half-siblings participating in their school's annual hike. ''Yoru no pikunikku'' was adapted into a 2006 film of the same name, directed by

Masahiko Nagasawa Masahiko Nagasawa (長澤雅彦 ''Nagasawa Masahiko'', born 28 February 1965 in Akita, Japan) is a Japanese film director. He was given a Best New Director award for his film ''Koko ni irukoto'' at the 2002 Yokohama Film Festival The is an ...

and starring

Mikako Tabe is a Japanese actress from Nishitokyo, Tokyo. Starting acting in her teens with a role in the Sailor Moon musicals, she has developed into a lead actress in film and television, playing the heroine in the Asadora ''Tsubasa'', starring in TV ...

. After being previously nominated for a 58th

for her book ''Q&A'' in 2005, Onda won the 59th

for Best Novel in 2006 for her

murder mystery Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, crime novel, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives or fiction that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a profession ...

'' The Aosawa Murders'' ('). The next year she won the 20th

for her book ', a complex story about a playwright writing a play about a playwright who is murdered while writing a play. Onda's 2011 novel ' was adapted into the 2012 television drama '' My Little Nightmare'' (''Akumu-chan''), starring

Keiko Kitagawa is a Japanese actress. She was an exclusive model for the Japanese '' Seventeen'' magazine from late 2003 to mid-2006, and quit modeling when she left the magazine. Her first acting role was Sailor Mars in the Sailor Moon live action show '' Pret ...

and shown on

Nippon TV JOAX-DTV (channel 4), branded as (NTV) or Nippon TV, is a Japanese television station serving the Kantō region as the flagship station of the Nippon News Network and the Nippon Television Network System, owned and operated by the , a sub ...

. '' My Little Nightmare: The Movie'' film sequel, also starring

, premiered in 2014.'' '' In 2017, after having been nominated six different times for the

, Onda won the 156th

for her 2016 book ', a story about an international piano competition. ''Mitsubachi to enrai'' also won the Japan Booksellers Award Grand Prize in 2017. After winning the

Naoki Award 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 the ...

Onda visited her hometown of

and received a special award from Mayor Emiko Okuyama.

Awards

* 2005 26th Yoshikawa Eiji Prize for New Writers * 2005 2nd

Grand Prize * 2006 59th Mystery Writers of Japan Award * 2007 20th

* 2017 156th

(2016下) * 2017 14th

Grand Prize

Bibliography

Selected works in Japanese

* ',

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 ...

, 1992, * ', Tokuma Shoten, 1999, * ',

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 ...

, 2000, * ''Q&A'',

Gentosha is a Japanese publisher, headquartered in Shibuya, Tokyo. Gentosha publishes manga magazine '' Comic Birz'', Web comic magazines '' GENZO'', ''SPICA'', '' Comic MAGNA'', literary magazines ''Lynx'', ''papyrus'', as well as business magazine ''GOE ...

, 2004, * ',

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, * ',

, 2006, * ',

Chuokoron-Shinsha is a Japanese publisher. It was established in 1886, under the name . In 1999, it was acquired by The Yomiuri Shimbun Holdings, and its name was subsequently changed to Chūōkōron-shinsha. Profile The company publishes a wide variety of mater ...

, 2007, * ',

, 2011, * ',

, 2016,

Selected works in English

* "The Big Drawer", translated by Nora Stevens Heath, ''Speculative Japan 2'', 2011 * "The Warning", translated by Mikhail S. Ignatov, ''Speculative Japan 3'', 2012 * '' The Aosawa Murders'', translated by Alison Watts, 2020 * ''Fish Swimming in Dappled Sunlight'', translated by Alison Watts, 2022 * ''Honeybees and Distant Thunder'', translated by Philip Gabriel, 2023

Film and other adaptations

Film

*', 2002 *', 2006 *'' My Little Nightmare: The Movie (''Akumu-chan''), 2014 * ''Listen to the Universe'' (''蜜蜂と遠雷 - Mitsubachi to enrai''), 2019

Television

* ' * ', TBS, 2001 * '' My Little Nightmare'' (),

, 2012

Reference, 2023

{{DEFAULTSORT:Onda, Riku 1964 births Living people 21st-century Japanese novelists 21st-century Japanese women writers Japanese women novelists Japanese mystery writers Japanese crime fiction writers Mystery Writers of Japan Award winners Naoki Prize winners Waseda University alumni Writers from Miyagi Prefecture