Natsuo Kirino's Books

Biography

Natsuo was born in 1951 in Kanazawa, a city on the west coast of Japan. She studied law and then worked in a series of jobs before she started to write romantic fiction in her 30s. Romance wasn’t her thing; instead, she got her first big break at 41 when she won the prestigious Edogawa Ranpo prize for mystery fiction. She is now one of Japan’s most popular crime writers.

Mystery Novels Without Mysteries

Despite the accolade, there isn’t anything too mysterious about Kirino’s work. As she has said:

“The thing I don’t like about detective stories is looking for criminals.” (Chicago Tribune)

Her books are a commentary on what she sees as the social injustices in modern-day Japan. The mystery isn’t who committed the crime, but would you have done the same?

Social Commentary

Her stories are about women who have fallen foul of Japanese social norms and are in horrible positions. If you are looking for the acceptable face of Japan — Hello Kitty, cherry blossom and Studio Ghibli — Kirino’s books will disappoint you.

Out is about part-time workers who earn the minimum wage. It starts when an impoverished woman murders her abusive husband. Grotesque exposes the social hierarchy embedded in Japanese society via a tale of two murdered prostitutes. Real World is a grizzly portrayal of matricide and Japanese teenagers’ preoccupied parents.

Feminist Noir

Natsuo Kirino’s books are grim — they have earned her a whole new genre, “feminist noir” — but they aren’t fanciful. In 2007 a woman in Tokyo was found guilty of murdering her husband, dismembering him and then parcelling up the pieces and dumping them around the city.

Kirino’s depiction of Japanese society has landed her with both fans and critics. One woman approached Kirino and thanked her for the liberation she felt after reading her novels. Yet, a male radio host refused to interview her for his show because she depicted a woman murdering her husband.

I can’t help but wonder if those incidents were related.

“I’m more interested in depicting people in difficult positions — who through no fault of their own find themselves pushed into tight corners and impossible situations. This inevitably involves describing the tensions and strains in society. And if you’re writing about people who are being bullied and abused, people who are cut off from the mainstream, you’ll inevitably be writing about women more often than not.” (Nippon)