is a female

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 ...

light novel A light novel (, Hepburn: ''raito noberu'') is a style of young adult novel primarily targeting high school and middle school students. The term "light novel" is a ''wasei-eigo'', or a Japanese term formed from words in the English languag ...

ist from Kōchi,

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

Biography

Arikawa was born on June 9, 1972 in Kochi City,

Kochi Prefecture Kochi (), also known as Cochin ( ) (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Kerala, the official name until 1996) is a major port city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is part ...

, Japan. She won the tenth annual

Dengeki Novel Prize The is a literary award handed out annually (since 1994) by the Japanese publisher ASCII Media Works (formerly MediaWorks) for their Dengeki Bunko light novel imprint. The contest has discovered many popular and successful light novelists, like K ...

for new writers for ''Shio no Machi: Wish on My Precious'' in 2003, and the book was published the following year. It was praised for its love story between a heroine and hero divided by age and social status, and for its depiction of military structures. Although she is a light novelist, her books from her second work onwards have been published as hardbacks alongside more literary works, with Arikawa receiving special treatment in this respect from her publisher, MediaWorks. ''Shio no Machi'' was also later published in hardback. Her 2006 light novel ''

Toshokan Sensō is a Japanese light novel series by Hiro Arikawa, with illustrations by Sukumo Adabana. There are four novels in the series, though only the first novel is called ''Toshokan Sensō''; the subsequent novels are named ''Toshokan Nairan'', ...

'' (The Library War) was named as ''Hon no Zasshis number one for entertainment for the first half of 2006, and came fifth in the '' Honya Taishō'' for that year, competing against ordinary novels. She has written about the

Japan Self-Defense Forces The Japan Self-Defense Forces ( ja, 自衛隊, Jieitai; abbreviated JSDF), also informally known as the Japanese Armed Forces, are the unified ''de facto''Since Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution outlaws the formation of armed forces, the ...

(JSDF); her first three novels concerning its three branches are known as the ''Jieitai Sanbusaku'' (The SDF Trilogy). She also wrote about the fictional Library Forces in the ''Toshokan Sensō'' series. ''Raintree no Kuni'', which first appeared as a book within a book in ''Toshokan Nairan'' was later published by Arikawa as a spin-off with another publisher. It was adapted into a film titled ''

World of Delight In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...

'' released on November 21, 2015. Her novel ' was adapted into a film titled '' Shokubutsu Zukan: Unmei no Koi, Hiroimashita'' (''Evergreen Love''), released on June 4, 2016. Likewise, two other of her novels, i.e.

Freeter, Ie wo Kau is a Japanese television drama series that aired on Fuji Television and on Kyodo Television in 2010. It is based on a novel, ''Freeter, Ie wo Kau'' written by the Japanese author Hiro Arikawa. Cast * Kazunari Ninomiya * Naoto Takenaka * Atsuko ...

and

Hankyū Densha is a 2011 Japanese film. It is based on the novel ''Hankyū Densha'' by Hiro Arikawa and directed by Yoshishige Miyake. It was released in cinemas in the Kansai region of Japan on April 23, 2011, and then in other regions of the country from Apr ...

were adapted respectively in film or TV series in 2010 and 2011. ''Tabineko Ripouto,'' a work which was serialized Weekly Bunshun between the years of 2011-2012, was compiled into a novel in 2012. In it, the protagonist is a cat called Nana (Japanese for seven), which enters the life of cat lover Satoru, who is still mourning his first cat Hachi (Japanese for eight). ''Tabineko Ripouto'' rapidly gained critical acclaim and several literary award nominations. It was translated by

Philip Gabriel James Philip Gabriel (born 1953) is an American translator and Japanologist. He is a full professor and former department chair of the University of Arizona's Department of East Asian Studies and is one of the major translators into English of the ...

and published in English as ''The Travelling Cat Chronicles'' in 2017. The novel was then adapted into a film in 2018.

Influence

In a 2011 essay written by video game designer

Hideo Kojima is a Japanese video game designer, director, producer and writer. He is regarded as an auteur of video games. He developed a strong passion for action/adventure cinema and literature during his childhood and adolescence. In 1986, he was hired ...

, he reviewed Arikawa's novel ''Hankyu Densha'' while relating the story to his personal experiences riding the

Hankyu Railway , trading as , is a Japanese private railway company that provides commuter and interurban service to the northern Kansai region and is one of the flagship properties of Hankyu Hanshin Holdings Inc., in turn part of the Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group ...

as a child. The essay was later published in Kojima's autobiographical book ''

The Creative Gene ''The Creative Gene: How Books, Movies, and Music Inspired the Creator of Death Stranding and Metal Gear Solid'' is an autobiographical book written by Japanese video game designer Hideo Kojima, published on October 12, 2021, by Viz Media. Based ...

'', released on October 12, 2021.

Works

*''The SDF Trilogy'' series **''Shio no Machi: Wish on My Precious'' **''Sora no Naka'' **''Umi no Soko'' *''The

Library War is a Japanese light novel series by Hiro Arikawa, with illustrations by Sukumo Adabana. There are four novels in the series, though only the first novel is called ''Toshokan Sensō''; the subsequent novels are named ''Toshokan Nairan'', ...

'' series **''Toshokan Sensō'' (The Library War) **''Toshokan Nairan'' (The Library Infighting) **''Toshokan Kiki'' (The Library Crisis) **''Toshokan Kakumei'' (The Library Revolution) *''Raintree no Kuni'' *''Sweet Blue Age'' *''

'' (published in French in 2021 under the title ''Au prochain arrêt'', i.e. ''At the next stop''). *' *''

'' *''Soratobu Kōhōshitsu'' *''Tabineko Ripouto'' (published in English under the title ''The Travelling Cat Chronicles'' in 2017)

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arikawa Hiro 1972 births Living people People from Kōchi Prefecture Writers from Kōchi Prefecture Japanese women novelists 21st-century Japanese women writers Light novelists 21st-century Japanese novelists Japan Self-Defense Forces in fiction