Kanae Minato

Kanae Minato
Born 1973
Innoshima, Hiroshima, Japan
Occupation Writer
Language Japanese
Period 2007–present
Genre Crime fiction, thriller
Notable awards Japanese Booksellers Award (2009)
Mystery Writers of Japan Award (2012)
In this Japanese name, the family name is Minato.

Kanae Minato (湊かなえ Minato Kanae, born 1973) is a Japanese writer of crime fiction and thriller. She is a member of the Mystery Writers of Japan and the Honkaku Mystery Writers Club of Japan.[1][2]

She started writing in her thirties. Her first novel Confessions became a bestseller and won the Japanese Booksellers Award.

In youth she was an avid fan of mystery novels of Edogawa Ranpo, Maurice Leblanc, Agatha Christie, Keigo Higashino, Miyuki Miyabe and Yukito Ayatsuji.[3]

She has been described in Japan as "the queen of iyamisu."[4] Iyamisu (eww mystery) is a subgenre of mystery fiction which deals with grisly episodes and the dark side of human nature. Readers blurt out "eww" when they are reading iyamisu novels. The term was created in 2006 by the mystery critic Aoi Shimotsuki.[5] There has been an iyamisu boom in Japan since around 2012. Kanae Minato, Mahokaru Numata and Yukiko Mari are regarded as representatives of the genre in Japan.[6][7] The back cover blurb of the Japanese edition of Gone Girl, published in June 2013, was "One of the best iyamisu novels from overseas."

The English edition of Minato's Confessions, published in August 2014, was described by a critic as "the Gone Girl of Japan."[8]

Wall Street Journal selected Confessions as one of the 10 best mysteries of 2014.[9]

Works in English translation

Awards and nominations

Japanese Awards
U.S. Awards

Bibliography

Standalone novels

Short story collections

TV and film adaptations

Japanese films
Japanese TV dramas

See also

References

  1. "Kanae Minato (List of members)" (in Japanese). Mystery Writers of Japan, Inc. Retrieved August 13, 2015.
  2. "Members of the Honkaku Mystery Writers Club of Japan" (in Japanese). Honkaku Mystery Writers Club of Japan. Retrieved August 13, 2015.
  3. 作家の読書道 第113回:湊かなえさん - 作家の読書道 (in Japanese). WEB 本の雑誌. Retrieved March 3, 2014.
  4. “イヤミス”の女王 湊かなえの『贖罪』文庫が大人気 (in Japanese). Da Vinci News. Retrieved February 13, 2015.
  5. Shimotsuki, Aoi (January 2007). "Kono iyamisu ni furuero!" このイヤミスに震えろ!. Hon no Zasshi (in Japanese) 32 (1). ISSN 0385-4612.
  6. "Yukiko Mari". J-Lit Center. Retrieved February 13, 2015.
  7. いや~な汗をかく小説「イヤミス」の魅力とは? (in Japanese). Bookstand. Retrieved February 13, 2015.
  8. Cha, Steph (August 8, 2014). "Kanae Minato's 'Confessions' hits its mark with a vengeance". Los Angeles Times.
  9. "Best Books of 2014". Wall Street Journal. December 4, 2014.
  10. YALSA announces 2015 Alex Awards | News & Press Center | American Library Association
  11. Strand Critics Award Nominees Are Announced... | Mystery Center
  12. The Shirley Jackson Awards » 2014 Shirley Jackson Awards Winners
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