is a Japanese

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles and techniques to communicate ideas. Writers produce different forms of literary art and creative writing such as novels, short stories, books, poetry, travelogues, p ...

from

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 has won the Noma Literary New Face Prize and the Akutagawa Prize, and two of her works have been adapted for film.

Career

Shibasaki was born in

. She graduated from

Osaka Prefecture University (OPU), also abbreviated to , is one of the largest public universities in Japan. The main campus is among big Kofun tombs in Sakai, Osaka. The university will merge with Osaka City University to form Osaka Metropolitan University (OMU) in A ...

and held an office job for four years while writing fiction. In 1999 she published her first

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...

, "Reddo, ierō, orenji, burū" ("Red, Yellow, Orange, Blue"). Her first novel, ''Kyō no dekigoto'' (''A Day on the Planet''), was published the next year. In 2003 ''Kyō no dekigoto'' was adapted by Isao Yukisada into a film of the same name. In 2006 Shibasaki won a

MEXT The , also known as MEXT or Monka-shō, is one of the eleven Ministries of Japan that composes part of the executive branch of the Government of Japan. Its goal is to improve the development of Japan in relation with the international community. ...

Award for New Artists for ''Sono machi no ima wa'' (''Today, in that City''), which was then nominated in 2007 for the Akutagawa Prize, but did not win. In 2010 she won the Noma Literary New Face Prize for ''Nete mo samete mo'', a first-person story about a woman who falls in love, loses her boyfriend, then meets a man who looks identical to her disappeared boyfriend but acts completely differently. In 2014, after having her work nominated three more times for the Akutagawa Prize, Shibasaki finally won the 151st Akutagawa Prize for her novel ''Haru no niwa'' (''Spring Garden''). In 2016 the

Japan Foundation The was established in 1972 by an Act of the National Diet as a special legal entity to undertake international dissemination of Japanese culture, and became an Independent Administrative Institution under the jurisdiction of the Ministry o ...

sponsored her residency in the International Writing Program at the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is org ...

. The following year, an English translation of her Akutagawa Prize-winning novel ''Haru no niwa'' was published by

Pushkin Press Pushkin Press is a British-based publishing house dedicated to publishing novels, essays, memoirs and children's books. The London-based company was founded in 1997 and is notable for publishing authors such as Stefan Zweig, Marcel Aymé, Anta ...

under the title ''Spring Garden''. In 2018 Ryūsuke Hamaguchi's film adaptation of ''Nete mo samete mo'', titled ''

Asako I & II is a 2018 Japanese romance drama film directed by Ryūsuke Hamaguchi, starring Masahiro Higashide and Erika Karata. It was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival. It is based on a 2010 novel by Tomoka Shibasaki ...

'', entered the competition at the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

Recognition

* 2006

Award for New Artists for ''Sono machi no ima wa'' (''Today, in that City'') * 2010 Noma Literary New Face Prize for ''Nete mo samete mo'' * 2014 151st Akutagawa Prize (2014上) for ''Haru No Niwa'' (''Spring Garden'')

Film adaptations

* ', 2003 * ''

'', 2018

Bibliography

Books in Japanese

* ''Nijiiro to kun'', Chikuma Shobo, 2015, * ''Haru no niwa'' (''Spring Garden''), Bungei Shunju, 2014, * ''Watashi ga inakatta machi de'' (''In Cities Before My Time''), Shinchosha, 2012, * ''Shudaika'', Kodansha, 2011, * ''Birijian'' (''Viridian''), Mainichi Shinbun, 2011, * ''Nete mo samete mo'', Kawade Shobo, 2010, * ''Dorīmāzu'' (''Dreamers''), 2009, * ''Hoshi no shirushi'', Bungei Shojo, 2008, * ''Furutaimu raifu'' (''Full-time Life''), Kawade Shobo, 2008, * ''Shotokatto'' (''Shortcut''), Kawade Shobo, 2007, * ''Sono machi no ima wa'' (''Today, in that City''), Shinchosha, 2006, * ''Kyō no dekigoto'' (''A Day on the Planet''), Kawade Shobo, 2000,

Selected work translated in English

* ''Spring Garden'', trans. Polly Barton.

, 2017,

References

External links

J'Lit , Authors : Tomoka Shibasaki , Books from Japan

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shibasaki, Tomoka 1973 births Living people Japanese writers Akutagawa Prize winners People from Osaka International Writing Program alumni