Nahoko Uehashi

Nahoko Uehashi is a Japanese writer, primarily of fantasy books, for which she has won many awards.
Uehashi is also Professor of Ethnology at Kawamura Gakuen Women's University, having completed a PhD focusing on the Yamatji, an indigenous Australian people.

WWW uehashi.com

Biography

Uehashi's career as a writer started in 1989. Her first book was The Sacred Tree. She then wrote the novel O God, Sleep Ye in The Forest of Moon. This novel received an award from the Japanese Association of Writers for Children, which made her one of the famous Japanese-fantasy authors.
In 1996, she published the first book of her Moribito series, Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit. The novel received the Noma Children's Literature New Face Prize and the Sankei Children's Culture and Publishing award and the English translation was awarded the Mildred L. Batchelder Award in 2009. In 1999, Uehashi published the second book of the Moribito series, Guardian of the Darkness. With this novel she received the Japanese Association of Writers for Children's award. In 2002 The Guardian series won the Iwaya Sazanami literature award, and in 2003, Guardian of the God won another Japanese award from the Shogakukan publishing company. Then, in 2003, Uehashi wrote the novel Beyond the Fox Whistle, which received a Noma Children's Literature award. In 2006 she wrote the two-volume The Beast Player, which she complemented with two more volumes in 2009.
Both Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit and the first two volumes of The Beast Player have had anime adaptations, in 2007 and 2009, respectively. Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit has also been made into a radio drama and The Beast Player'' into a manga. The first two books in the series were translated to English and won the Mildred L. Batchelder Award from the American Library Association, the first volume in 2009, and the second, in 2010.
For her "lasting contribution" as a children's writer, Uehashi won the biennial, international Hans Christian Andersen Award in 2014.
Announced late in March, it will be presented on 10 September at the annual conference of the International Board on Books for Young People in Mexico City.
According to the IBBY jury chaired by María Jesús Gil of Spain, "Uehashi tells stories that are replete with imagination, culture and the beauty of a sophisticated process and form. Her literary subjects are based on ancient Japanese mythology and science-fiction fantasy that are deeply rooted in human reality."
She has been called "a highly popular fantasy writer for young adults" in Japan.

Works in English translation

Moribito series
*Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit, translated by Cathy Hirano
* Moribito II: Guardian of the Darkness, translated by Cathy Hirano
The Beast Player
*The Beast Player, translated by Cathy Hirano
*The Beast Warrior, translated by Cathy Hirano
The Deer King
* The Deer King: Survivors, translated by Cathy Hirano
*The Deer King: Returners, translated by Cathy Hirano

The Guardian series

Novels
# Guardian of the Spirit, 1996
#* Kaiseisha, July 1996,
#* Shincho Bunko, March 2007,
# Guardian of the Darkness, 1999
#* Kaiseisha, January 1999,
#* Shincho Bunko, July 2007,
# Guardian of Dreams, 2000
#* Kaiseisha, May 2000,
#* Shincho Bunko, December 2007,
# Traveler of Void, 2001
#* Kaiseisha, July 2001,
#* Shincho Bunko, July 2008,
# Guardian of the God: The Book of Coming, 2003
#* Kaiseisha, January 2003,
#* Shincho Bunko, August 2009,
# Guardian of the God: The Book of Returning, 2003
#* Kaiseisha, January 2003,
#* Shincho Bunko, August 2009,
# Traveler of the Indigo-Blue Road, 2005
#* Kaiseisha, April 2005,
#* Shincho Bunko, August 2010,
# Guardian of Heaven and Earth: The Kingdom of Lota, 2006
#* Kaiseisha, November 2006,
#* Shincho Bunko, May 2011,
# Guardian of Heaven and Earth: The Kingdom of Kanbal, 2007
#* Kaiseisha, January 2007,
#* Shincho Bunko, May 2011,
# Guardian of Heaven and Earth: The New Yogo Empire, 2007
#* Kaiseisha, February 2007,
#* Shincho Bunko, May 2011,
Short story collections
* Wanderers, 2008
** Kaiseisha, April 2008,
** Shincho Bunko, August 2013,
*, 2012
** Kaiseisha, January 2012,

The Beast Player series

Novels
# The Beast Player I: The Fighting Serpent Chapter, 2006
#* Kodansha, November 2006,
#* Kodansha Bunko, August 2009,
# The Beast Player II: The King Beast Chapter, 2006
#* Kodansha, November 2006,
#* Kodansha Bunko, August 2009,
# The Beast Player III: The Quest Chapter, 2009
#* Kodansha, August 2009,
#* Kodansha Bunko, August 2012,
# The Beast Player IV: The Final Chapter, 2009
#* Kodansha, August 2009,
#* Kodansha Bunko, August 2012,
Short story collection
*, 2010
** Kodansha, September 2010,
** Kodansha Bunko, October 2013,

The Deer King series

Novels
# Shika no o jokan: ikinokotta mono, 2014
#* Part 1
#** Kadokawa, June 2017,
#* Part 2
#** Kadokawa, June 2017,
# Shikano o gekan: kaette iku mono, 2014
#* Part 1
#** Kadokawa, July 2017,
#* Part 2
#** Kadokawa, July 2017,
# Shika no o: minasoko no hashi, 2019
#* Kadokawa, March 2019,

Standalone fantasy novels

The Sacred Tree, 1989

* Kaiseisha, 1989,
* Kaiseisha, 2004, O God, Sleep Ye in the Forest of Moon, 1991
* Kaiseisha, 1991,
* Kaiseisha Bunko, 2000, Beyond the Fox Whistle, 2003
* Rironsha, 2003,
* Shincho Bunko, 2006,

Ethnology

The Backyard Aborigines, 2000

* Chikuma Shobo, May 2000,
* Chikuma Bunko, September 2010,