is a Japanese novelist. Hirano was born in Gamagori,

Aichi prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Aichi Prefecture has a population of 7,552,873 () and a geographic area of with a population density of . Aichi Prefecture borders Mie Prefecture to the west, Gifu Prefectur ...

, Japan. He published his first novel (''Nisshoku'', ) in 1998 and won the Akutagawa Prize the next year as one of the youngest winners ever (at 23 years of age). He graduated from the Law Department of

Kyoto University , mottoeng = Freedom of academic culture , established = , type = National university, Public (National) , endowment = ¥ 316 billion (2.4 1000000000 (number), billion USD) , faculty = 3,480 (Teaching Staff) , administrative_staff ...

in 1999. In 2005 he was nominated as a

cultural ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or so ...

and spent a year in France.

Novels

* ' () * ' () * ''The Only Form of Love'' () 2008 * ''Dawn'' () 2009 * ''A Man'' () 2018
Other Works, Essays, Dialogues, etc.
His short story "Clear Water" (''Shimizu'', ), translated by Anthony Chambers, appears in ''Modern Japanese Literature'', Volume 2 ( Columbia University Press, 2007), pp. 542–549.

Awards

*120th (1998) Akutagawa Prize *18th (2000) Kyoto Culture Prize *59th (2008) Education, Science and Technology Minister’s Art Encouragement Prize for New Writers, for Dam Break *19th (2009) Prix Deux Magots Bunkamura, for Dawn

External links

Official Website L'Eclipse on Amazon.com
* Prix Deux Magots Bunkamura *

Prix des Deux Magots The Prix des Deux Magots is a major French literary prize. It is presented to new works, and is generally awarded to works that are more off-beat and less conventional than those that receive the more mainstream Prix Goncourt. The name derives from ...

Others

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hirano, Keiichiro 20th-century Japanese novelists 21st-century Japanese novelists Writers from Aichi Prefecture Kyoto University alumni People from Gamagōri 1975 births Living people Akutagawa Prize winners