is the professional name of , a Japanese author. She has won the

Akutagawa Prize The is a Japanese literary award presented biannually. Because of its prestige and the considerable attention the winner receives from the media, it is, along with the Naoki Prize, one of Japan's most sought after literary prizes. History The ...

and the

Tanizaki Prize The Tanizaki Prize (谷崎潤一郎賞 ''Tanizaki Jun'ichirō Shō''), named in honor of the Japanese novelist Jun'ichirō Tanizaki, is one of Japan's most sought-after literary awards. It was established in 1965 by the publishing company Chūō K� ...

, she has been named a

Person of Cultural Merit is an official Japanese recognition and honor which is awarded annually to select people who have made outstanding cultural contributions. This distinction is intended to play a role as a part of a system of support measures for the promotion of ...

, and her work has been adapted for film.

Biography

Takagi was born Nobuko Tsuruta in

Yamaguchi Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Yamaguchi Prefecture has a population of 1,377,631 (1 February 2018) and has a geographic area of 6,112 Square kilometre, km2 (2,359 Square mile, sq mi). Y ...

on April 9, 1946. She graduated from the Junior College of Tokyo Women's University, after which she worked at a publishing company for two years, married her first husband in 1971, and had a son. Takagi moved to

Fukuoka is the sixth-largest city in Japan, the second-largest port city after Yokohama, and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since ancie ...

in 1974, divorced her first husband in 1978 and married her second husband, a lawyer, in 1980. Takagi started writing love stories and made her fiction debut in 1980 with ''Sono hosoki michi'' (That Narrow Road). It was nominated for the

, as were her subsequent stories ''Tôsugiru tomo'' (A Distant Friend, 1981), ''Oikaze'' (A Following Wind, 1982), and '. ''Hikari idaku tomo yo'', a story about the emotional lives of two high school girls, won the 90th Akutagawa Prize. Subsequent works continued to explore themes of romantic love in many forms, including innocent love, married love, extramarital affairs, and love triangles. Her 1994 novel ' won the inaugural Shimase Award for Love Stories. Other examples include the 1993 novel ', about two former lovers reunited when their daughters from their current marriages become injured in the same car accident, the 1999 novel ', which won the 35th

and was later translated into English by Deborah Stuhr Iwabuchi, and the 2000 novel ', about two lovers who find piece of music containing a hidden code that will help Romania achieve political freedom. In 2004 Takagi published ', a novelized version of her autobiography that was later adapted into the 2009 movie ''

Mai Mai Miracle is a Japanese animated film based on Nobuko Takagi's novelization of her autobiography, ''Maimai Shinko''. It was produced by the animation studio Madhouse, distributed by Shochiku, and directed by Sunao Katabuchi. The film debuted at the Locar ...

'' starring

Mayuko Fukuda , born on August 4, 1994 in Tokyo, Japan, is a Japanese actress who made her debut in 1998. She is contracted to talent agency FLaMme. Her father, Kenji Fukuda, is a drummer in the band Kasutera. Filmography Television dramas * '' Summer ...

. In 2011 her story ' won the 36th Kawabata Yasunari Literature Prize. In 2008 Takagi was a Special Guest Professor at

Kyushu University , abbreviated to , is a Japanese national university located in Fukuoka, on the island of Kyushu. It was the 4th Imperial University in Japan, ranked as 4th in 2020 Times Higher Education Japan University Rankings, one of the top 10 Design ...

. In 2018 she was named a

. Takagi is an Akutagawa Prize selection committee member. She continues to live in Fukuoka.

Recognition

* 1984 90th

(1983下) for ' * 1994 Shimase Literary Prize for Love Stories for ' * 1999 35th

for ' * 2011 36th Kawabata Yasunari Literature Prize * 2018

Bibliography

Selected works in Japanese

* ',

Shinchosha is a publisher founded in 1896 in Japan and headquartered in Yaraichō, 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), ...

, 1984, * ',

Kodansha is a Japanese privately-held publishing company headquartered in Bunkyō, Tokyo. Kodansha is the largest Japanese publishing company, and it produces the manga magazines ''Nakayoshi'', ''Afternoon'', ''Evening'', ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' an ...

, 1994, * ',

Bungeishunjū is a Japanese publishing company known for its leading monthly magazine ''Bungeishunjū''. The company was founded by Kan Kikuchi in 1923. It grants the annual Akutagawa Prize, one of the most prestigious literary awards in Japan, as well as th ...

, 1999, * ', Magajin Hausu, 2004, * ', Shinchosha, 2011,

Selected works in English

* *

References

External links

Nobuko Takagi
at J'Lit Books from Japan {{DEFAULTSORT:Takagi, Nobuko 1946 births Living people People from Yamaguchi Prefecture Writers from Yamaguchi Prefecture Akutagawa Prize winners Academic staff of Kyushu University 20th-century Japanese novelists 20th-century Japanese women writers 21st-century Japanese novelists 21st-century Japanese women writers Japanese women novelists