Kanae Minato


Kanae Minato is a Japanese writer of crime fiction and thrillers. She is a member of the Mystery Writers of Japan and the Honkaku Mystery Writers Club of Japan. She is a 2015 recipient of the Alex Awards.

Life

She started writing in her thirties. Her first novel Confessions became a bestseller and won the Japanese Booksellers Award.
In youth she was an avid fan of mystery novels of Edogawa Ranpo, Maurice Leblanc, Agatha Christie, Keigo Higashino, Miyuki Miyabe and Yukito Ayatsuji.
She has been described in Japan as "the queen of iyamisu." Iyamisu is a subgenre of mystery fiction which deals with grisly episodes and the dark side of human nature. The term was created in 2006 by the mystery critic Aoi Shimotsuki. There has been an iyamisu boom in Japan since around 2012. Kanae Minato, Mahokaru Numata and Yukiko Mari are regarded as representatives of the genre in Japan. The back cover blurb of the Japanese edition of Gone Girl, published in June 2013, was "One of the best iyamisu novels from overseas."
The English edition of Minato's Confessions, published in August 2014, was described by a critic as "the Gone Girl of Japan."
Wall Street Journal selected Confessions as one of the 10 best mysteries of 2014.

Works in English translation

  • Confessions, trans. Stephen Snyder,
  • Penance, trans. Philip Gabriel,

Awards and nominations

;Japanese Awards
;U.S. Awards
  • 2015 – Alex Award: Confessions
  • 2015 – Nominee for Strand Critics Award for Best First Novel: Confessions
  • 2015 – Nominee for Shirley Jackson Award for Best Novel: ''Confessions''

Standalone novels

Kokuhaku, 2008 Shōjo, 2009 Shokuzai, 2009 Enu no Tame ni, 2010 Yakō Kanransha, 2010 Hana no Kusari, 2011 Kyōgū, 2011 Shirayukihime Satsujin Jiken, 2012 Bosei, 2012 Kōkō Nyūshi, 2013 Mame no Ue de Nemuru, 2014 Yama Onna Nikki, 2014 Monogatari no Owari, 2014 Zesshō, 2015
  • Reverse, 2015
  • Utopia, 2015
  • Mirai, 2018
  • Broadcast, 2018
  • Rakujitsu, 2019
  • Kakera, 2020
  • Ningen Hyōhon, 2023

Short story collections

Ōfuku Shokan, 2010 Safaia, 2012 Bōkyō, 2013

TV and film adaptations

;Japanese filmsConfessions Kita no Kanaria tachi The Snow White Murder Case Night's Tightrope Bokyo
;Japanese TV Movies and Series Kyōgū Penance Kōkō Nyūshi Yakō Kanransha Hana no Kusari N no Tame ni
  • Josei Sakka Mysteries Utsukushiki Mitsu no Uso
  • Bokyo TV Movie Special Ōfuku shokan ~ Junen go-nen-go no hōshu Yamaonna Nikki ~ Onnatachi wa itadaki wo mezashite Reverse Poison Daughter Holy Mother Lupin the 3rd Part 6
  • ''Sunset''