桐野夏生

b. 1951

Natsuo Kirino is the pen name of Mariko Hashioka, a Japanese novelist known for her contributions to the rise of female writers in Japanese detective fiction. Born in Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture, she is the middle child of three siblings, with one older brother and one younger brother. Her father was an architect. Kirino lived in several cities, including her current residence in Tokyo. She married in 1975 and gave birth to a daughter in 1981. She earned a law degree from Seikei University in 1974 and worked in various fields before becoming a writer. She began working at the Iwanami Hall movie theater in her early twenties and later took scriptwriting classes before beginning her writing career. She gained recognition in her forties.

Born

1951