Akane Chihaya

Akane Chihaya
千早 茜
Born (1979-08-02) August 2, 1979 (age 47)
Ebetsu, Hokkaido, Japan
EducationRitsumeikan University
OccupationWriter
Writing career
LanguageJapanese
GenreFiction
Notable works
  • Iogami
  • Atokata
  • Otoko Tomodachi
  • Shirogane no Ha
Notable awards

Akane Chihaya (千早 茜, Chihaya Akane; born August 2, 1979) is a Japanese writer. She has won the Shōsetsu Subaru New Writer Award, the Izumi Kyōka Prize for Literature, the Shimase Award for Love Stories, and the Naoki Prize.

Early life and education

Chihaya was born in Hokkaido in 1979. From first grade through fifth grade Chihaya lived in Zambia, where her father, who was working for the Japan International Cooperation Agency, taught pathology at a university. Her family returned to Japan, and Chihaya started writing poetry and keeping a diary while in high school. Chihaya later graduated from Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto. After graduating from college she stayed in Kyoto and worked a variety of jobs at a cake shop, a medical office, and a museum.

Career

Chihaya made her literary debut in 2008 with Iogami (魚神, Fish God), a novel that won the 21st Shōsetsu Subaru New Writer Award as well as the 37th Izumi Kyōka Prize for Literature, which is not usually awarded to a debut work. Her book Atokata (あとかた), a collection of short stories with common characters and the common theme of scarring, was published in 2013. Atokata won the Shimase Award for Love Stories and was nominated for the 150th Naoki Prize, but did not win. In July 2013 Chihaya married her husband. Her novel Otoko Tomodachi (男ともだち, Male Friends), about a woman in a sexless marriage who breaks off her affair with another man to reconnect with a male friend from her school days, was published in 2014. Otoko Tomodachi was nominated for the 151st Naoki Prize, but the prize went to Hiroyuki Kurokawa.

Chihaya produced several books after her Naoki Prize nominations, including the 2016 dark fantasy novel Yoru ni Naku Tori wa (夜に啼く鳥は), the 2017 novel Garden (ガーデン), about a male editor and his relationships with the women around him, and the 2018 novel Tadashii Onnatachi (正しい女たち, Correct Women). In 2023 Chihaya won the 168th Naoki Prize for Shirogane no Ha (しろがねの葉), sharing the prize with Satoshi Ogawa.

Recognition

Works

Adaptation

Her novel Otoko Tomodachi (男ともだち, Male Friends) was adapted in a film titled as Two Cigarettes, Three Nights directed by Yukiko Mishima. It premiered at 39th Tokyo International Film Festival on October 27, 2026.

References

  1. ↑ "魚神（いおがみ）』 千早 茜" (in Japanese). Shueisha. Archived from the original on August 8, 2017. Retrieved September 15, 2018.
  2. ↑ 花村, 萬月 (January 5, 2009). "『魚神』千早茜". Renzaburo (in Japanese). Archived from the original on September 16, 2018. Retrieved September 15, 2018.
  3. 1 2 "作家の読書道　第149回：千早茜さん". WEB本の雑誌 (in Japanese). June 18, 2013. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved September 15, 2018.
  4. ↑ "【報告】校友の千早茜さんが「小説すばる新人賞」を受賞しました！" [Report: Alumna Akane Chihaya wins the Shōsetsu Subaru Literary Prize!]. 校友会NEWS (Alumni Association News) (in Japanese). Ritsumeikan University. October 17, 2008. Archived from the original on September 16, 2018. Retrieved September 15, 2018.
  5. ↑ 加藤, 修 (November 23, 2009). "泉鏡花文学賞に選ばれた　千早茜さん" [Akane Chihaya chosen as winner of Izumi Kyōka Prize for Literature]. Asahi Shimbun (in Japanese). Archived from the original on September 16, 2018. Retrieved September 15, 2018.
  6. ↑ "「金沢の"におい"で現実感」　泉鏡花文学賞、千早さん". Mainichi Shimbun (in Japanese). February 11, 2018. Archived from the original on September 16, 2018. Retrieved September 15, 2018.
  7. ↑ "Scars". Books from Japan. Archived from the original on September 16, 2018. Retrieved September 15, 2018.
  8. 1 2 "島清恋愛文学賞を受賞した作家、千早茜さん（３４）". Sankei News (in Japanese). November 24, 2013. Archived from the original on September 16, 2018. Retrieved September 15, 2018.
  9. ↑ "第150回「芥川賞・直木賞」候補11作決まる いとうせいこう氏が2回目の選出". Oricon News (in Japanese). December 20, 2013. Archived from the original on September 16, 2018. Retrieved September 15, 2018.
  10. ↑ 稲葉, 真弓 (June 23, 2014). "男ともだち　千早茜著 曖昧で不安定な心のありよう". The Nikkei (in Japanese). Archived from the original on September 16, 2018. Retrieved September 15, 2018.
  11. ↑ 高橋, 昌紀 (July 17, 2014). "ノミネートに「諾否」、単行本化前倒しも…受賞作決定までの舞台裏". Mainichi Shimbun (in Japanese). Archived from the original on September 16, 2018. Retrieved September 15, 2018.
  12. ↑ "Akutagawa, Naoki literary awards go to Shibasaki, Kurokawa". Kyodo News. July 17, 2014. Archived from the original on June 18, 2018. Retrieved September 15, 2018 – via The Japan Times.
  13. ↑ 朝宮, 運河 (October 5, 2016). "「不老不死に憧れる気持ちが、実は書いていて一番わからなかった」不死の一族を描いたダーク・ファンタジー『夜に啼く鳥は』【千早茜さんインタビュー】". Da Vinci News (in Japanese). Archived from the original on September 16, 2018. Retrieved September 15, 2018.
  14. ↑ 川村, 律文 (July 20, 2017). "【エンタメ小説月評】闇にきらめく人生の断面". Yomiuri Shimbun (in Japanese). Archived from the original on September 16, 2018. Retrieved September 15, 2018.
  15. ↑ 小川, 志津子 (August 17, 2018). "『正しい女たち』千早茜著「正しい」は果たして正しいのか？". Ryūkyū Shimpō (in Japanese). Archived from the original on September 16, 2018. Retrieved September 15, 2018.
  16. 1 2 "第１６８回直木賞は小川哲さんと千早茜さんに決まる" [168th Naoki Prize goes to Satoshi Ogawa and Akane Chihaya]. Sankei Shimbun (in Japanese). January 19, 2023. Retrieved January 19, 2023.
  17. ↑ "小説すばる新人賞受賞作リスト" [Shōsetsu Subaru New Writers Award Winners List] (in Japanese). Shueisha. Archived from the original on August 13, 2018. Retrieved September 15, 2018.
  18. ↑ "泉鏡花文学賞" [Izumi Kyōka Prize for Literature] (in Japanese). City of Kanazawa. Archived from the original on January 10, 2019. Retrieved September 15, 2018.
  19. ↑ "林、千早さん受賞　島清恋愛文学賞" [Hayashi, Chihaya awarded Shimase Award for Love Stories]. Hokkoku Shimbun (in Japanese). October 26, 2013. Archived from the original on November 2, 2013. Retrieved September 16, 2018.
  20. ↑ 男ともだち [Male Friends]. Eiga.com (in Japanese). Retrieved 3 June 2026.