Shion Miura (三浦 しをん, Miura Shion, born 1976) is a Japanese writer. She has won the Naoki Prize, the Oda Sakunosuke Prize, and the Japan Booksellers' Award. Her work has been adapted for film and television, and her books have been translated into Indonesian, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, English, German and Italian.

Shion Miura
Native name
三浦 しをん
Born1976 (age 47–48)
Tokyo, Japan
OccupationNovelist, essayist
LanguageJapanese
Alma materWaseda University
GenreFiction, essay
Notable works
  • Mahoro ekimae Tada benriken
  • Fune wo amu
  • Ano ie ni kurasu yonin no onna
Notable awards

Early life and education

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Miura was born in Tokyo, Japan in 1976.[1] While attending university she planned to become an editor, but she was signed by a literary agent and started her writing career.[2] She graduated from Waseda University.[3]

Career

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A year after graduating from Waseda, Miura published her first novel, Kakuto suru mono ni maru (A Passing Grade for Those Who Fight).[2] She won the 135th Naoki Prize in 2006 for her book Mahoro ekimae Tada benriken.[4] The novel and its sequels have been adapted into a series of movies by Tatsushi Ōmori,[5] a TV Tokyo television show,[6] and a manga series.[7] Her novel Kaze ga tsuyoku fuiteiru (Run with the Wind), about 2 former elite runners who inspire each other to take up running again, was published in 2006 and later adapted into a 2009 live-action film and a 2018 NTV animated series.[8] In 2008 her novel Hikari (Light), a story about rape, murder, and consequences over time, was published.[9] Hikari was adapted into a 2017 suspense film directed by Tatsushi Ōmori.[10][11]

Miura's novel Fune wo amu (Compiling the Boat), about a 15 year effort to create a new dictionary called The Great Passage, was published by Kobunsha in 2011.[12] In 2012 Fune wo amu won the Japan Booksellers' Award.[13] A 2013 film adaptation of Fune wo amu, directed by Yuya Ishii, won several Japan Academy Prizes, including Best Picture.[14] In 2016 Fuji TV adapted the novel into an anime series, also called Fune wo amu.[15] An English version of Fune wo amu, translated by Juliet Winters Carpenter, was published in 2017 under the title The Great Passage.[16] Kris Kosaka of The Japan Times described The Great Passage as "stylistically adept, with the shift in narratives smoothly connecting as characters’ stories overlap through time and space."[17]

In 2015 Miura's novel Ano ie ni kurasu yonin no onna, a story that loosely follows the setting and themes of Jun'ichirō Tanizaki's work The Makioka Sisters, won the 32nd Oda Sakunosuke Prize.[18][19]

Miura has cited Kenji Maruyama and Hideo Nakai as favorite authors.[1] She is a fan of BL manga, and a collection of her essays on yaoi was published under the title Shumi ja nainda (It's Not Just a Hobby) in 2006.[20]

Recognition

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Film and other adaptations

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Works

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Fiction

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  • Kakutōsuru mono ni maru, Soshisha, 2000, ISBN 9784794209603
  • Watakushi ga katarihajimeta kare wa, Shinchosha, 2004, ISBN 9784104541034
  • Mukashi no hanashi, Gentōsha, 2005, ISBN 9784344007413
  • Kaze ga tsuyoku fuiteiru (Run with the Wind), Shinchosha, 2006, ISBN 9784104541041
  • Mahoro ekimae Tada benriken (Handymen in Mahoro Town), Bungei Shunjū, 2006, ISBN 9784163246703
  • Kimi wa Porarisu, Shinchosha, 2007, ISBN 9784104541058
  • Bukka o ezu, Futabasha, 2007, ISBN 9784575235944
  • Hikari, Shueisha, 2008, ISBN 9784087712728
  • Mahoro ekimae bangaichi, Bungei Shunjū, 2009, ISBN 9784163286006
  • The easy life in Kamusari, Tokuma Shoten, 2009,ISBN 9784198627317
  • Fune wo amu (Knitting the Boat), Kobunsha, 2011, ISBN 9784334927769
  • Koguresō monogatari, Shōdensha, 2010, ISBN 9784396633462
  • Mahoro ekimae kyōsōkyoku, Bungei Shunjū, 2013, ISBN 9784163825809
  • Ano ie ni kurasu yonin no onna, Chūō Kōron Shinsha, 2015, ISBN 9784120047398

Nonfiction

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Works in English

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  • The Great Passage, trans. Juliet Winters Carpenter, Amazon Crossing, 2017, ISBN 9781477823071
  • The Easy Life in Kamusari, trans. Juliet Winters Carpenter, Amazon Crossing, 2021, ISBN 9781542027168
  • Kamusari Tales Told at Night, trans. Juliet Winters Carpenter, Amazon Crossing, 2022, ISBN 9781542028882

References

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  1. ^ a b 瀧井, 朝世 (July 1, 2004). "第33回:三浦 しをんさん" (in Japanese). WEB本の雑誌. Retrieved July 5, 2018.
  2. ^ a b "Authors: Shion Miura". Books from Japan. Retrieved July 5, 2018.
  3. ^ Ichikawa, Makoto. "Waseda, literature and Waseda Bungaku". Waseda Online. Yomiuri Shimbun. Retrieved July 5, 2018.
  4. ^ 上塚, 真由 (July 26, 2006). "第135回直木賞受賞作家: 三浦しをんさん&森絵都さんに聞く「自分探し」から「社会性」へ" (in Japanese). Sankei Shimbun. Retrieved July 5, 2018.
  5. ^ a b Schilling, Mark (October 15, 2014). "Two men and a tot make a half-decent film". The Japan Times. Retrieved July 5, 2018.
  6. ^ a b "まほろ駅前番外地" (in Japanese). TV Tokyo. January 11, 2013. Retrieved July 5, 2018.
  7. ^ "「まほろ駅前」2巻、山田ユギペーパーを町田市限定で配布". Comic Natalie (in Japanese). Natalie. March 4, 2011. Retrieved July 5, 2018.
  8. ^ a b c "風が強く吹いている:三浦しをんの駅伝小説が10月にテレビアニメ化 プロダクションI.G制作". MANTAN Web (in Japanese). May 31, 2018. Retrieved January 15, 2019.
  9. ^ "三浦しをん『光』刊行記念スペシャルインタビュー". Renzaburo (in Japanese). November 26, 2008. Retrieved July 5, 2018.
  10. ^ "井浦新&瑛太 25日公開、映画「光」で共演 日常に潜む狂気と暴力性". Mainichi Shimbun (in Japanese). November 18, 2017. Retrieved July 5, 2018.
  11. ^ a b Schilling, Mark (November 29, 2017). "'And Then There Was Light': Moments of beauty engulfed in miserabilism". The Japan Times. Retrieved July 5, 2018.
  12. ^ 北上, 次郎 (October 20, 2011). "舟を編む 三浦しをん著". Nihon Keizai Shimbun (in Japanese). Retrieved July 5, 2018.
  13. ^ "【2012年本屋大賞】直木賞作家・三浦しをん『舟を編む』に決定". Oricon News (in Japanese). April 10, 2016. Retrieved July 5, 2018.
  14. ^ Schilling, Mark (March 8, 2014). "'The Great Passage' Wins Best Picture at Japan's Academy Awards". Variety. Retrieved July 5, 2018.
  15. ^ a b "三浦しをん原作アニメ『舟を編む』声優陣に櫻井孝宏、神谷浩史、坂本真綾". Cinra.net (in Japanese). August 18, 2016. Retrieved July 5, 2018.
  16. ^ Nimura, Janice P. (August 11, 2017). "Fiction From Japan, for the Old World and the New". The New York Times. Retrieved July 5, 2018.
  17. ^ Kosaka, Kris (December 23, 2017). "'The Great Passage': Shion Miura's dictionary of life". The Japan Times. Retrieved July 5, 2018.
  18. ^ "三浦しをんさん最新作「あの家に暮らす四人の女」 何げない日常のいとおしさ". Sankei News (in Japanese). August 24, 2015. Retrieved July 5, 2018.
  19. ^ "織田作之助賞 堂垣園江さん、三浦しをんさん選ばれる". Mainichi Shimbun (in Japanese). December 17, 2015. Retrieved July 5, 2018.
  20. ^ "シュミじゃないんだ" (in Japanese). Shinshokan. Retrieved July 5, 2018.
  21. ^ "直木賞受賞者一覧" (in Japanese). 日本文学振興会. Retrieved July 5, 2018.
  22. ^ "これまでの本屋大賞" (in Japanese). 本屋大賞. Retrieved July 5, 2018.
  23. ^ "これまでの織田作之助賞受賞作一覧" (PDF) (in Japanese). Osaka Literature Promotion Institute. Retrieved July 5, 2018.
  24. ^ "まほろ駅前狂騒曲". Eiga.com (in Japanese). Retrieved July 5, 2018.
  25. ^ 福田, 麗 (July 13, 2012). "松田龍平&宮崎あおい、異色の"辞書"映画で共演!本屋大賞受賞作「舟を編む」が映画化!". Cinema Today (in Japanese). Retrieved July 5, 2018.
  26. ^ "Wood Job!". AllCinema Movie & DVD Database (in Japanese). Japan: Stingray. 2014. Retrieved 16 January 2014.