was a Japanese novelist, essayist, and playwright. During the 1980s and 1990s, she was one of the most popular authors released under Shueisha's Cobalt Bunko imprint. She is best known outside Japan for '' I Can Hear the Sea'', which was adapted into a movie by

Studio Ghibli is a Japanese animation studio based in Koganei, Tokyo."Studio Ghibli Collection - Madman Entertainment". ''Studio Ghibli Collection - Madman Entertainment''. Retrieved 2020-12-14. It has a strong presence in the animation industry and has exp ...

Biography

Himuro was born in

Iwamizawa is a city in Sorachi Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. It is the capital of Sorachi Subprefecture. As of July 31, 2023, the city had an estimated population of 75,949 and the density of 158 persons per km2. The total area is . On March 27, 2006 ...

, Hokkaidō Prefecture on January 11, 1957. She died from

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma, is a malignant tumor that begins in the lung. Lung cancer is caused by genetic damage to the DNA of cells in the airways, often caused by cigarette smoking or inhaling damaging chemicals. Damaged ...

on June 6, 2008, aged 51.

Works

Novels

All titles published by

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 ...

Cobalt imprint unless otherwise noted. 1970s * (1978) * (1979) 1980s * (1980) * (1980) * (1981) * (1981) * (1981) * (1982) * (1983) :''The Change!'' is a four-volume adaptation of ''

Torikaebaya monogatari , translated into English as ''The Changelings'', is a Japanese tale from the late Heian period (794 to 1185) by an unknown author, or possibly more than one author. It is four volumes in length.Kubota (2007:255) It is the tale of two siblings wh ...

'', a Heian-era tale. * (1983) * (1983) * (1984) * (1984) * (1984) * (1984) * (1985) * (1985) * (1985) * (1986) * (1986) * (1988) * (1988) * (1988) * (1989) * (1989) * (1989,

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 ...

) * (1989, Kadokawa Shoten) 1990s * (1990) * (1990) * (1991) * (1991) * (1991,

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 ...

Nochi Bunko) * (1991, Shueisha Nochi Bunko) * vol.1-11 (1992–1996) * (1993) * (1993) * (1995)

Essays

* (1987, Shueisha, Nochi Bunko) * (1989, Kadokawa Shoten, Nochi Bunko) * (1990, Kadokawa Shoten, Nochi Bunko) * (1990, Shueisha Cobalt) * (1990, Kadokawa Shoten) * (1992,

Chikuma Shobō is a Japanese book publisher headquartered in , Taitō, Tokyo. Founded in 1940 by Furuta Akira (1906–1973) in cooperation with the writer and critic Yoshimi Usui, it first published the intellectual monthly ''Tembo'' (Views) in 1946. In 1953 ...

, Nochi Bunko) * (1993, Shueisha, Nochi Bunko) * (1995, Shueisha, Nochi Bunko)

Translation

*'' Ochikubo Monogatari'' (1993,

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 ...

)

Collaboration

*''Boku ga Suki na Hito e'' (1993, with

Katsuya Kondō is a Japanese mangaka, manga artist, character designer, animator and animation director. He is best known for his character design work on the Studio Ghibli films ''Kiki's Delivery Service'' and ''Ocean Waves (film), Ocean Waves'', as well as t ...

, based on '' I Can Hear the Sea'')

Play

*''Searching for Lady Anne''

Works made into television dramas

*''Nante Suteki ni Japanesque'' (1986, starring Yasuko Tomita) *''I Can Hear the Sea II: Because There Is Love'' (1995, starring Shinji Takeda and Hitomi Satō)

Work made into radio drama

*''Nante Suteki ni Japanesque'' ( NHK-FM, starring Satomi Kobayashi)

Works made into films

*''Clara Hakusho'' (1985, starring Shōjotai) * ''Koisuru Onnatachi'' (1986, starring Yuki Saito)

Work made into anime

*'' I Can Hear the Sea'' (1993, made by

)

Manga

These manga were either written by Himuro or the original story idea was created by her. * (

Shogakukan is a Japanese publisher of comics, magazines, light novels, dictionaries, literature, non-fiction, home media, and other media in Japan. Shogakukan founded Shueisha, which also founded Hakusensha. These are three separate companies, but ...

, drawn by Yumi Kagawa) * (Shogakukan, drawn by Kazuko Fujita) * (Shueisha, drawn by Hiromi Tanigawa)

Works made into manga

*''Clara Hakusho'' (Shogakukan, Noa Misaki) *''Agnes Hakusho'' (Shogakukan, Noa Misaki) *''Nante Suteki ni Japanesque'' (

Hakusensha is a Japanese publishing company. It is headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo. The company mainly publishes manga magazines and is involved in series' productions in their games, original video animation, music, and their animated TV series. The com ...

, Naomi Yamauchi) *''Zakkyo Jidai'' (Hakusensha, Naomi Yamauchi) *''Warabigaoka Monogatari'' (Hakusensha, Naomi Yamauchi) *''The Change!'' (Hakusensha, Naomi Yamauchi) *''Shōjo Shōsetsu Ie wa Shinanai!'' (Hakusensha, Miyuki Nishizawa) * ''Koisuru Onnatachi'' (Shueisha, Miyoko Nanbu)

Work made into picture book

*''Cinderella Mystery'' (

Tokuma Shoten is a publisher in Japan, headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. The company was established in 1954 by Yasuyoshi Tokuma in Minato, Tokyo. The company's product portfolio includes music publishing, video game publishing, movies, anime, magazines, man ...

, artist: Mutsumi Inomata)

Works made into plays

*''Searching for Lady Anne'' **OSK Nippon Kagekidan produced this play in 1996. Michiru Kō starred in the debut performance at the Kintetsu Theatre. **Ralph Becker: Michiru Kō **Lady Anne: Mebae Kojō *''The Change!'' **Theatre Echo produced this play from 2000-11-12 to 2000-11-21 at the Shinjuku Minamiguchi Kinokuniya Southern Theatre. ***Produced by Haruhiko Jō ***Script by Michihiro Ōtani **The female musical theater group Gekidan Star of Dreams production ran during September 2005 to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the Morinomiya Planet Station. ***Produced by Kaori Ōra *''Cinderella Mystery'' **Produced by Theatre Company Caramelbox in 1994 at the Tokyo Geijutsu Geijō Little Hall and Shinbashi Yakult Hall. **Produced by Ryūnosuke Kuse **Script by Yutaka Narui

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Himuro, Saeko 1957 births 2008 deaths Japanese essayists Japanese women essayists Japanese women novelists Deaths from lung cancer 20th-century Japanese novelists 20th-century Japanese women writers 20th-century essayists People from Iwamizawa Writers from Hokkaido Fuji Women's University alumni