Novala Takemoto

Novala Takemoto
嶽本 野ばら
Born
Toshiaki Takemoto

Uji, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan
Occupationswriter, fashion designer
Writing career
Genresessays, novels, short stories

Toshiaki Takemoto (嶽本 稔明, Takemoto Toshiaki), known professionally as Novala Takemoto (嶽本 野ばら, Takemoto Nobara), is a Japanese author, and fashion designer.

Biography

Takemoto was born in Uji, south of Kyoto. As a child, he was shy and preferred drawing and reading (two of his favorite authors were Osamu Dazai and Yasunari Kawabata) to spending time with others, and was a big fan of the anime series Candy Candy, in the discovery of which he was "happy to finally find what [he] liked". He was also sometimes beaten by his father, which he says persuaded him to follow his own path in life. After dropping out of Osaka University of Arts in 1987, he participated in a variety of artistic, musical and theatrical activities. From 1992 to 1997, he made his literary debut contributing serial essays to Hanagata Bunka Tsūshin (花形文化通信), a Kansai free arts newspaper. These essays were collected and published in book format in 1998 as Soleilnuit: For Becoming a Proper Young Lady, and received wide recognition. These essays also increased the popularity of the Japanese term otome, referring to a young lady or young maiden. Shogakukan published his debut novel Missin' in 2000. He was nominated for the Yukio Mishima Literary Award twice, for his novels Emily (in 2003) and Lolita (in 2004).

Takemoto is best known for Shimotsuma Monogatari, titled Kamikaze Girls in English. The series was adapted to a manga and a film which was directed by Tetsuya Nakashima. Another of his novels, Twins: A Variety Store Named "The End of the World", was also adapted for film in 2001 by Kiseki Hamada.

Takemoto was arrested in September 2007 for violating the Cannabis Control Law and was later convicted of the crime. He was arrested again in 2015 after he was found to have two grams of contraband that are banned under the Narcotics Control Law in his possession.

Works in English translation

Works

Novels and short stories

Essay collections

Picture books

Photo books

Other

Sources and Notes

  1. ↑ "「乙女のカリスマ」嶽本野ばら容疑者、大麻所持で逮捕" ['Female's charisma' Suspected Suspected, Arrested for Possession of Marijuana]. September 4, 2007. Archived from the original on February 20, 2008. Retrieved March 23, 2008.
  2. 1 2 Kondo, Miyuki. "Do your own thing: 'Lolita' novelist touches lonely hearts." Asahi Shimbun. July 24, 2004.
  3. ↑ McNeill, David. "Lolitas' Bard is Sitting Pretty." The Japan Times Online. Sunday, November 21, 2004.
  4. ↑ "Kamikaze Girls Author Booked for Cannabis Possession". Anime News Network. Retrieved 2021-07-28.
  5. ↑ Shoji, Kaori. "Refuge in the little shop of solace." The Japan Times Online. Wednesday, November 28, 2001.
  6. ↑ 山崎, 征克 (April 23, 2015). "嶽本野ばら容疑者:麻薬成分含む植物片所持の疑いで逮捕". Mainichi Shimbun (in Japanese). Archived from the original on April 25, 2015. Retrieved February 16, 2020.
  7. ↑ "Novala Takemoto arrested for marijuana". UPI. Retrieved 2021-07-28.
  8. ↑ "Tokyo cops arrest novelist Novala Takemoto for 'dangerous drugs'". TokyoReporter. 2015-04-23. Retrieved 2021-07-28.
  9. ↑ Emily - A Novel by Novala Takemoto (Shueisha English Edition) Archived 2013-12-12 at the Wayback Machine