Miyuki Miyabe facts for kids

Miyuki Miyabe (宮部みゆき, Miyabe Miyuki, born December 23, 1960) is a famous Japanese author. She writes many kinds of stories, like mysteries, science fiction, and historical tales. Miyuki Miyabe has won many important Japanese literary awards. Her books have been turned into movies, TV shows, manga comics, and video games. They have also been translated into more than a dozen languages around the world.

About Miyuki Miyabe's Early Life

Miyuki Miyabe was born in Tokyo, Japan in 1960. Her mother worked as a seamstress, making clothes. Her father worked in a factory, helping to build things on an assembly line.

After finishing Sumidagawa High School, she went to a business training school. Later, she got an office job at a law firm.

Miyuki Miyabe's Career as a Writer

Miyuki Miyabe started writing novels when she was 23 years old. In 1984, while still working at the law office, she began taking writing classes. These classes were run by the Kodansha publishing company.

Her first book, Our Neighbour is a Criminal, came out in 1987. It won two awards: the All Yomimono Mystery Novel Newcomer Prize and the Japan Mystery Writers Association Prize. Since then, she has written many novels and won numerous literary awards.

Famous Books by Miyuki Miyabe

All She Was Worth

One of Miyabe's well-known novels is All She Was Worth (火車, Kasha). It was published in 1992. The story is about a police inspector in Tokyo. He is looking for a missing woman who might be stealing identities to avoid debt.

In 1993, Kasha won the Yamamoto Shūgorō Prize. This award celebrates new books that are excellent at storytelling. Kasha was made into a TV movie twice, in 1994 and 2011. Millions of copies of the Japanese book were sold. The English version, All She Was Worth, came out in 1997. Critics praised how the simple writing style matched the serious themes of the book.

The Reason

The Reason (理由, Riyū) is a mystery novel published in 1998. It tells a murder story in Tokyo from many different viewpoints. The book is written like research interviews with suspects, neighbors, and family members.

Riyū won the Japan Adventure Fiction Association Prize in 1998. In 1999, it won the 120th Naoki Prize, which is a very important Japanese literary award. Some experts call Riyū a masterpiece of social criticism from after World War II. It was also made into a movie in 2004.

Crossfire

Miyabe's novel 'Crossfire (クロスファイア, Kurosufaia) was published in the same year as Riyū. It's about a police detective chasing a girl who has special powers to start fires.

Crossfire was adapted into a movie called Pyrokinesis in 2000. An English version of Crossfire was published in 2006.

Brave Story

In 2003, Kadokawa Shoten published Miyabe's fantasy novel Brave Story. This story is about a boy with a difficult home life who finds a magical door to another world.

Brave Story became a huge bestseller in Japan. It has been adapted into an anime film, a manga series, and a series of video games. The English version of the novel won the Mildred L. Batchelder Award in 2008. This award is for the best translated children's book.

Miyuki Miyabe's Writing Style

Miyuki Miyabe writes in many different styles. She has written science fiction, mystery fiction, historical fiction, and young adult literature. Outside of Japan, she is most famous for her crime and fantasy novels.

A common idea in Miyabe's books is community. She often explores how modern society, especially consumerism (buying and selling things), affects families and relationships between people.

Awards Miyuki Miyabe Has Won

• 1992 Mystery Writers of Japan Award for Best Novel: The Sleeping Dragon
• 1992 Yoshikawa Eiji Prize for New Writers: Honjo Fukagawa Fushigi-zōshi
• 1993 Yamamoto Shūgorō Prize: All She Was Worth
• 1997 Japan SF Award: Gamōtei Jiken
• 1998 Japan Adventure Fiction Association Prize: Riyū (The Reason)
• 1999 Naoki Prize: Riyū (The Reason)
• 2001 Shiba Ryotaro Prize: Puppet Master
• 2007 Yoshikawa Eiji Prize for Literature: Namonaki Doku (Nameless Poison)
• 2008 Batchelder Award for Best Translated Children's Book: Brave Story

Movies and TV Shows Based on Her Books

Many of Miyuki Miyabe's stories have been made into films and television series.

Films

• Pyrokinesis, 2000
• Mohōhan, 2002
• Brave Story, 2006
• Helpless, 2012
• Solomon's Perjury, 2015

Television

• Shuku Satsujin (1988)
• Majutsu wa sasayaku (TV movie), 1990
• Saboten no Hana (1991)
• Unmei no Juko (based on "Snark Gari")(1992)
• Tatta Hitori (1992)
• Henshin (1993)
• Kasha: Kādo hasan no onna! (1994 TV movie)
• Isshun no Sinjitsu (1994)
• Level Seven (1994)
• Ryū wa Nemuru (1994)
• Iwazunioite (1997)
• Gamoutei Jiken, NHK, 1998
• Moshichi no Jikienbo (2001, 2002, 2003)
• R.P.G., NHK, 2003
• The Reason [ja] (TV movie), Wowow, 2004
• Nagai Nagai Satsujin (TV movie), Wowow, 2007
• Perfect Blue (TV movie), Wowow, 2010
• Hansai (Anthology episode), Fuji TV, 2010
• Majutsu wa sasayaku (TV movie), Fuji TV, 2011
• Kasha (TV movie), TV Asahi, 2011
• Stepfather Step, TBS, 2012
• Perfect Blue, TBS, 2012
• Riyū (TV movie), TBS, 2012
• Snark Gari (TV movie), TBS, 2012
• Nagai Nagai Satsujin (TV movie), TBS , 2012
• Level Seven (TV movie), TBS, 2012
• Samishii Kariudo (TV movie), Fuji TV, 2013
• Kogure Shashinkan, NHK, 2013
• Nomonaki Doku, TBS, 2013
• Petero no souretsu, TBS, 2014
• Osoroshi, NHK, 2014
• Sakura Housara, NHK, 2014
• Bonkura, NHK, 2014-2015
• 模倣犯 , TV Tokyo, 2016
• Solomon's Perjury, JTBC, 2016-2017
• Rakuen, Wowow, 2017
• Copycat Killer, Netflix, 2023

Manga

• Brave Story, 2007

See also

In Spanish: Miyuki Miyabe para niños

• List of Japanese women writers