is a Japanese

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

writer. She won the 6th Hayakawa SF Contest in 1980, when she was still a student. Later she published various SF works and became the 10th president of the

Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of Japan Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of Japan, or SFWJ (Japanese official name: , ''Nihon SF Sakka Club'') is an organization of SF-related people, professional or semi-professional. It was formerly a friendship organization, but it is a general inco ...

. Ōhara is the Winner of the

Nihon SF Taisho Award The is a Japanese science fiction award. It has been compared to the Nebula Award as it is given by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of Japan or SFWJ. The Grand Prize is selected from not only Science Fiction novels, but also various SF mo ...

in 1994.

Biography

Ōhara was born in

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...

. She wrote

Kirk/Spock Kirk/Spock, commonly abbreviated as K/S or Spirk and referring to James T. Kirk and Spock from ''Star Trek'', is a pairing popular in slash fiction, possibly the first slash pairing, according to Henry Jenkins, an early slash fiction scholar. Ea ...

fan fiction Fan fiction or fanfiction (also abbreviated to fan fic, fanfic, fic or FF) is fictional writing written in an amateur capacity by fans, unauthorized by, but based on an existing work of fiction. The author uses copyrighted characters, settin ...

in her teens. She graduated from the Department of Literature, course of psychology, in the Seishin University (). Ōhara won the 6th Hayakawa SF Contest for her short story "''Hitori de Aruite itta Neko (A Cat who Walked along Alone)''" in 1980. Next year, in 1981, she graduated from the University and started publishing her stories in the

S-F Magazine is a science fiction magazine published by Hayakawa Shobō in Japan. It was Japan’s first successful science fiction prozine. History ''S-F Magazine'' was established in 1960. It began publication with the February 1960 issue, which appea ...

. She belongs to the 3rd generation of the Japanese SF writers. In 1991, her "''Haiburiddo Chairudo'', Hybrid Child" ( won the

Seiun Award The is a Japanese speculative fiction award given each year for the best science fiction works and achievements during the previous calendar year. Organized and overseen by , the awards are given at the annual Nihon SF Taikai, Japan Science Fict ...

for Japanese novel. Then, in 1995 she won the 15th

for "''Sensō-wo Enjita Kamigamitachi'', Gods who Bandied War" (). She was a science fiction reviewer for

Asahi Shimbun is one of the four largest newspapers in Japan. Founded in 1879, it is also one of the oldest newspapers in Japan and Asia, and is considered a newspaper of record for Japan. Its circulation, which was 4.57 million for its morning edition and ...

from April 1998 to March 2002, and she was on the jury for the Nihon SF Taisho Awards from 1997 to 1999.(ja
Official Site: Introduction
Retrieved 22 July 2019 She was also the 10th president of the

from September 1999 to September 2001. Ōhara is a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of Japan, of the Japanese Writers' Association ( JA), and, of the Nihon Pen Club ( JA).

Awards

* 1980: 6th Hayakawa SF Contest Award for ''Hitori de Aruite itta Neko'' * 1991: 22nd

(Japanese long novel) for ''Hybrid Child'' * 1994: 15th

for ''Sensō wo Enjita Kamigami-tachi'' * 1998: 19th Seiun Award (Japanese short novel) for ''Independence Day in Ōsaka''

Selected works

Novels

* ''Hitori de Aruite itta Neko'' (), 1982,

Hayakawa Publishing is a Japanese publishing company, founded in 1945 by Kiyoshi Hayakawa. It is the largest science fiction publisher in Japan; almost all winners of the Seiun Award for Best Foreign Novel are published by the company. Notable books written by Japa ...

* ''Kikaishin Asura'' (), 1983, Hayakawa Publishing * ''Ginga Network de Uta wo Utatta Kujira'' (), 1984年, Hayakwa Publishing * ''Miika wa Miika, Trouble Maker'' (), 1985,

Shueisha (lit. "Gathering of Intellect Publishing Co., Ltd.") is a Japanese company headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. The company was established in 1925 as the entertainment-related publishing division of Japanese publisher Shogakukan. The foll ...

* ''Miraishi-tachi'' (), 1986, Hayakawa Publishing * ''Ishi no Koku City'' (), 1986,

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, m ...

* ''Mental Female'' (), 1988, Hayakawa Publishing * ''Hybrid Child'' (, Haiburiddo Chairudo), 1990,

* ''Kyōfu no Katachi'' (), 1993,

Asahi Sonorama is the publishing arm of The Asahi Shimbun Company, publishing books, magazines, and manga. It replaced on 1 April 2008 just after it went bankrupt. History Asahi Sonorama was created as a division of Asahi Shimbunsha on September 9, 1959 ...

* ''Sensō wo Enjita Kamigami-tachi'' (), 1994, Aspect * ''Sensō wo Enjita Kamigami-tachi II'' ( II), 1997, Askie Aspect * ''Archaic States'' (), 1997, Hayakawa Publishing * ''Mitsumeru Onna'' (), 1999, Kousaidou

Works in English translation

*"The Mental Female" (''The Review of Contemporary Fiction'', Summer 2002) *"Girl" (''Speculative Japan'', Kurodahan Press, 2007) *"The Whale that Sang on the Milky Way Network" (''Speculative Japan 2'', Kurodahan Press, 2011) * ''Hybrid Child'' (trans. Jodie Beck, University of Minnesota Press, 2018)

Video game works

Mariko Ōhara did the scenario for

Quintet A quintet is a group containing five members. It is commonly associated with musical groups, such as a string quintet, or a group of five singers, but can be applied to any situation where five similar or related objects are considered a single ...

's video game ''

Illusion of Gaia ''Illusion of Gaia'', known in PAL territories as ''Illusion of Time'', is an action role-playing video game developed by Quintet for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. The game was released in Japan by Enix in 1993, and in North America and ...

'', along with Masaya Hashimoto and

Tomoyoshi Miyazaki was a Japanese video game developer, founded in April 1989. The company name is derived from musical terminology, as well as five elements of game design—planning, graphics, sound, programming and producing. Quintet was most active in the 19 ...

Notes and references

The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction ''The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction'' (SFE) is an English language reference work on science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and f ...

page 641 *

External links

Official Site
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ohara, Mariko 1959 births Living people Japanese science fiction writers People from Osaka Prefecture Women science fiction and fantasy writers Japanese women writers University of the Sacred Heart (Japan) alumni