Makate Asai

Makate Asai (朝井 まかて, Asai Makate) is a Japanese writer of historical fiction. She has won the Naoki Prize and the Oda Sakunosuke Prize, and two of her novels have been adapted for television by NHK.

Makate Asai
Native name	朝井 まかて
Born	1959 (age 63–64) Habikino, Osaka, Japan
Occupation	Writer, novelist
Language	Japanese
Alma mater	Konan Women's University
Genre	Fiction Historical fiction
Notable works	Nukemairu Renka Oranda Saikaku Kurara
Notable awards	Naoki Prize Oda Sakunosuke Prize

Early life and education

Asai was born in 1959 in Habikino, Osaka, Japan. After graduating from Konan Women's University she took a job writing copy for advertising.^[1]

Career

Asai made her literary debut in 2008 with Mi sae hana sae (実さえ花さえ), which won the Shōsetsu Gendai Novel Newcomer Encouragement Prize from Kodansha.^[2] She chose the pen name "Makate" to honor her Okinawan grandmother.^[3] More novels followed, including the 2010 novel Chanchara (ちゃんちゃら) and the 2012 novel Nukemairu (ぬけまいる), which NHK later adapted into a television series starring Rena Tanaka, Rie Tomosaka, and Eriko Sato.^[4]

In 2014 Asai won both the Naoki Prize and the Oda Sakunosuke Prize, but for different books. Her 2013 novel Renka (恋歌, Love Song), a story based on the life of the poet Nakajima Utako, won the 150th Naoki Prize, which she shared with Kaoruko Himeno.^[5][6] Her book Oranda Saikaku (阿蘭陀西鶴), a story based on the life of the poet Ihara Saikaku, won the 31st Oda Sakunosuke Prize.^[7]

Her novel Kurara (眩), about the relationship between the painter Katsushika Ōi and her father, the painter Hokusai, was published in 2016.^[8] Kurara won the 22nd Gishū Nakayama Literature Prize, and was adapted into the 2017 NHK television movie Kurara: The Dazzling Life of Hokusai's Daughter (眩 ～北斎の娘～, Kurara ~Hokusai no Musume~) starring Aoi Miyazaki.^[9][10]

Recognition

• 2018 Osaka Culture Prize^{[citation needed]}
• 2008 3rd Shōsetsu Gendai Novel Newcomer Encouragement Prize^[11]
• 2014 150th Naoki Prize (2013下)^[12]
• 2014 31st Oda Sakunosuke Prize^[13]
• 2016 22nd Gishū Nakayama Literature Prize^[14]

Television adaptations

• Kurara: The Dazzling Life of Hokusai's Daughter (眩 ～北斎の娘～, Kurara ~Hokusai no Musume~), NHK, 2017^[15]
• Nukemairu ~Onna sannin Ise mairi (ぬけまいる~女三人伊勢参り), NHK, 2018^[16]

Works

• Mi sae hana sae (実さえ花さえ), Kodansha, 2008, ISBN 9784062150422
• Chanchara (ちゃんちゃら), Kodansha, 2010, ISBN 9784062164207
• Nukemairu (ぬけまいる), Kodansha, 2012, ISBN 9784062180023
• Love Song (恋歌, Renka), Kodansha, 2013, ISBN 9784062185004
• Oranda Saikaku (阿蘭陀西鶴), Kodansha, 2014, ISBN 9784062191418
• Kurara (眩), Shinchosha, 2016, ISBN 9784103399711

References

1. "直木賞受賞の朝井まかてさん独占インタビュー". Zakzak (in Japanese). February 2, 2014. from the original on August 18, 2018. Retrieved August 16, 2018.
2. "作家　朝井まかてさん". Renzaburo (in Japanese). from the original on August 18, 2018. Retrieved August 16, 2018.
3. "朝井まかてさん「まさかまさかまさか」". Sankei News (in Japanese). January 16, 2014. from the original on August 18, 2018. Retrieved August 16, 2018.
4. "田中麗奈・ともさかりえ・佐藤江梨子、江戸から伊勢へ女子旅時代劇で共演". Oricon News (in Japanese). August 1, 2018. from the original on August 18, 2018. Retrieved August 16, 2018.
5. "「４分の１は沖縄の血」　直木賞作家・朝井まかてさん". Ryūkyū Shimpō (in Japanese). February 5, 2014. from the original on August 18, 2018. Retrieved August 17, 2018.
6. "Literature prizes elevate women". The Japan Times. January 25, 2014. from the original on July 14, 2018. Retrieved August 16, 2018.
7. 大矢, 博子 (October 5, 2014). "『阿蘭陀西鶴』朝井まかて著". Sankei News (in Japanese). from the original on August 18, 2018. Retrieved August 16, 2018.
8. 西田, 朋子 (June 2, 2016). "北斎の娘描いた『眩』刊行…朝井まかてさん". Yomiuri Shimbun (in Japanese). from the original on August 18, 2018. Retrieved August 16, 2018.
9. "中山義秀文学賞 朝井まかてさんの「眩」に". Mainichi Shimbun (in Japanese). November 14, 2016. from the original on August 18, 2018. Retrieved August 16, 2018.
10. "ドラマ「眩～北斎の娘～」制作統括・佐野元彦さん　温めた思い結実". Mainichi Shimbun (in Japanese). September 14, 2017. from the original on August 18, 2018. Retrieved August 16, 2018.
11. "第１回〜第８回小説現代長編新人賞". Shōsetsu Gendai (in Japanese). Kodansha. from the original on August 18, 2018. Retrieved August 16, 2018.
12. "直木賞受賞者一覧" (in Japanese). 日本文学振興会. from the original on November 7, 2018. Retrieved August 17, 2018.
13. "これまでの織田作之助賞受賞作一覧 1984～2013 年" (PDF). 大阪文学振興会 (Osaka Literature Promotion Institute) (in Japanese). (PDF) from the original on June 23, 2018. Retrieved August 16, 2018.
14. "中山義秀文学賞" (in Japanese). City of Shirakawa. from the original on August 18, 2018. Retrieved August 16, 2018.
15. "眩（くらら）～北斎の娘～" (in Japanese). NHK. from the original on July 23, 2018. Retrieved August 16, 2018.
16. "田中麗奈×ともさかりえ×佐藤江梨子『ぬけまいる～女三人伊勢参り』制作開始！" (in Japanese). NHK. August 1, 2018. from the original on August 18, 2018. Retrieved August 16, 2018.