is a female Japanese novelist from

Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...

. Her short

novel A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...

''Keritai senaka'' 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 ...

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 German, Italian, French, Thai,

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, people from the Korean peninsula or of Korean descent * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Korean **Korean dialects **See also: North–South differences in t ...

, and English.

Biography

Wataya was born in

, Japan. Her mother was a university English teacher, and her father worked for a clothing company. At age 17, she told her parents that she was working on her university entrance exams, but she was actually writing her first novella, titled ''Insutōru'' (''Install''). ''Insutōru'' won the 38th Bungei Prize in 2001. It was later adapted into a 2004 film of the same name, starring Aya Ueto. After graduating from Murasakino High School in Kyoto, Wataya attended

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 ...

, where her thesis focused on the structure of

Osamu Dazai , known by his pen name , was a Japanese novelist and author. A number of his most popular works, such as ''The Setting Sun'' (斜陽, ''Shayō'') and '' No Longer Human'' (人間失格, ''Ningen Shikkaku''), are considered modern classics. Hi ...

's ''Hashire merosu'' (走れ、メロス ''

Run, Melos! is a Japanese Language, Japanese Novella, short story by Osamu Dazai. It was first published 1940 and is a widely read classic in Japanese schools. It was first used as teaching material for Japanese middle high schoolers in 1956. The story is a ...

''). In 2004, while a second-year student at Waseda, Wataya received the

for her short

''Keritai senaka'' ("The Back You Want to Kick"). Wataya shared the prize with

Hitomi Kanehara is a Japanese people, Japanese Japanese author, novelist. Her novel ''Hebi ni piasu'' (''Snakes and Earrings'') won the Shōsetsu Subaru Literary Prize and the Akutagawa Prize, and sold over a million copies in Japan. Her work has been translate ...

, another young, female author. At the age of 19, Wataya became the youngest author and only the third student ever to win the

. An English version of ''Keritai senaka'' was published 12 years later under the title ''I Want to Kick You in the Back''. Wataya did not immediately write more novels after winning the

, but rather worked several jobs in Kyoto, including selling clothes in a department store and serving as a hotel waitress. She returned to writing with her 2007 book ''Yume wo ataeru'' (''Give Me a Dream''), and in 2010 her novel ''Katte ni furuetero'' (''Tremble All You Want'') became a best-seller in Japan. In 2017 a film adaptation of ''Katte ni furuetero'', directed by Akiko Ohku, premiered at the

Tokyo International Film Festival The is a film festival established in 1985. The event was held biennially from 1985 to 1991 and annually thereafter. According to the FIAPF, it is one of Asia's competitive film festivals and the second largest film festival in Asia behind the ...

and won the festival's Audience Award. Wataya moved back to Kyoto in 2011. In 2012 her novel ''Kawaisou da ne?'' ("Isn't it a pity?") won the Kenzaburo Oe Prize. Wataya announced her marriage in 2014. Her first child, a son, was born in late 2015. She is a fan of

AKB48 AKB48 (pronounced ''A.K.B. Forty-Eight'') is a Japanese idol musical girl group named after the Akihabara area in Tokyo, where the group's theater is located. AKB48 has sold more records than any other female musical act in Japanese history. AK ...

Writing style

Wataya's early work focused on strong female protagonists in high school settings. While her writing addresses gender and youth sexuality, media coverage of Wataya's first two books tended to portray Wataya as more conservative than

, her contemporary and co-winner of the 130th

. She has said that

Junot Díaz Junot Díaz ( ; born December 31, 1968) is a Dominican American writer, creative writing professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a former fiction editor at '' Boston Review''. Central to Díaz's work is the immigrant experience ...

, and

Haruki Murakami is a Japanese writer. His novels, essays, and short stories have been best-sellers in Japan and internationally, with his work translated into 50 languages and having sold millions of copies outside Japan. He has received numerous awards for hi ...

are some of her favorite authors.

Recognition

* 2001 38th Bungei Prize * 2004 130th

(2003下) * 2012 Kenzaburo Oe Prize

Film and other adaptations

* 2004 ''Insutōru'' (''Install'') * 2017 '' Tremble All You Want'' * 2021 '' Unlock Your Heart''

Bibliography

Books in Japanese

* インストール (''Install''). Kawade Shobo Shinsha Publishing Co., 2001. * 蹴りたい背中 (''Keritai senaka'', ''The Back I Want to Kick''). Kawade Shobo Shinsha Publishing Co., 2003. * 夢を与える (''Yume wo ataeru'', ''To Give a Dream''). Kawade Shobo Shinsha Publishing Co., 2007. * 勝手にふるえてろ (''Katte ni furuetero'', ''Tremble All You Want''). Bungeishunju Ltd.,2010. * かわいそうだね？ (''Kawaisou da ne?'', ''Isn't It a Pity?'') Bungeishunju Ltd.,2010. * ひらいて (''Hiraite'', ''Open'') Shinchosha Publishing Co, Ltd.,2012.

Selected work in English

* "from ''Install''", trans. Katherine Lundy, ''Words without Borders'', 2012 * ''I Want to Kick You in the Back'', trans. Julianne Neville, One Peace Books, 2015,

References

External links

Risa Wataya
at J'Lit Books from Japan {{DEFAULTSORT:Wataya, Risa Akutagawa Prize winners 21st-century Japanese novelists 21st-century Japanese women writers 1984 births Living people Writers from Kyoto Waseda University alumni