Honobu Yonezawa | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1978 (age 45–46) Gifu Prefecture, Japan |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Language | Japanese |
| Period | 2001–present |
| Genre | Mystery fiction, young adult fiction, light novel |
| Notable awards | Mystery Writers of Japan Award (2011) |
| Website | |
| pandreamium | |
Honobu Yonezawa (米澤 穂信, Yonezawa Honobu, born 1978) is a Japanese writer, best known for his young adult mystery series Kotenbu , also known as the Classic Literature Club series. [1]
Honobu Yonezawa was born in 1978 in the Gifu Prefecture. [2]
From as young as he could remember, Yonezawa wanted to be a writer. At 11 years old, he wrote a sequel to H. G. Wells's The War of the Worlds, [3] and started writing original novels in the second year of junior high school. In his second year of Kanazawa University studying literature, he started publishing his works on his site Hanmuden (汎夢殿) (the website was temporarily shut down after his official debut and these works are currently unavailable [4] ). His early work were diverse in genre, but Yonezawa was struck when he read Kaoru Kitamura's Flying Horse (空飛ぶ馬) and Princess in Rokunomiya (六の宮の姫君) while in university, and decided to turn his attention to writing mysteries. [3] [4]
After graduating from university, Yonezawa convinced his parents to let him try and attain his dream of writing a novel for two years. He got a job as a bookstore clerk in Takayama while he continued writing on the side. [5] In 2001, he officially debuted with the novel Hyōka, (氷菓) which received an honorable mention in the 5th Kadokawa Gakuen Novel Young Person Mystery and Horror Category Awards (角川学園小説大賞). His decision to submit was fueled by positive reception of Hyōka on his website Hanmuden, [3] that he personally saw a future in the combination of light novels and mysteries, [6] and because he was late for the deadline of another award. Hyōka became the first novel in a series dubbed the Classic Literature Club (古典部) series, to be distributed by the newly established Sneaker Mystery Club within the Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko imprint. Hyōka was soon followed with Gusha no Endorōru (愚者のエンドロール) in 2002.
However, when Yonezawa had completed the draft for the third and what he intended to be the final book in the Classic Literature Club series, the label was going on hiatus due to changing trends in the market, so he could not get it published. [7] Despite this, he was approached by Tokyo Sogensha who inquired what he was working on, [8] thanks partly to recommendations from writers Kiyoshi Kasai and Kazuki Sakuraba. [9] When he explained the situation to the publisher, they asked to see the draft and after a few days they requested rights to publish it. After discussions between Kadokawa, Tokyo Sogensha and Yonezawa, they agreed to have the novel published, and after changing details such as the characters and the setting, Sayonara Yōsei (さよなら妖精) was published in 2004. It was featured in the magazine Kono Mystery ga Sugoi! (このミステリーがすごい!) in 2005, ranking 20th in the domestic category.
In the same year, he published Shunki Gentei Ichigo Taruto Jiken (春期限定いちごタルト事件), the first novel of the Shōshimin (小市民) series.
Around the same time, he moved from Gifu to Tōkyō.
In 2008, when Yonezawa published Hakanai Hitsuji tachi no Shukuen (儚い羊たちの祝宴), he states that he started not only paying attention to the riddles present within his works, but also how they appeal to a wider audience. [3] So when he published Oreta Ryūkotsu (折れた竜骨) in 2010, which incorporated some fantasy elements to an otherwise classical mystery story, it won the 64th Mystery Writers of Japan Award for the following year. [10]
In 2012, Kyoto Animation aired an anime adaptation of the Classic Literature Club series under the name of the first novel, Hyōka. [11]
Since 2013, he has been on the selection committee for the Mysteries! Rookie of the Year Award (ミステリーズ!新人賞).
In 2014, his short story collection Mangan (満願) was selected as one of the best mysteries in the Mystery ga Yomitai!, (ミステリーが読みたい!) Shūkan Bunshun Mystery Best 10, (週刊文春ミステリーベスト10) and Kono Mystery ga Sugoi! It was ranked the top in domestic rankings and became the first book in history to receive three simultaneous rankings from different publications. [12] It also won the 27th Yamamoto Shūgorō Prize and the 151st Naoki Prize.
In 2016, he was selected by literary magazine Granta in their Japanese edition as one of the Granta Best of Young Japanese Novelists.
In 2024, the first two novels of the Shōshimin Series were adapted into an anime produced by Lapin Track, and released under the name Shōshimin: How to Become Ordinary . [13]
Miyuki Miyabe is a Japanese writer of genre fiction. She has won numerous Japanese literary awards, including the Yoshikawa Eiji Prize for New Writers, the Yoshikawa Eiji Prize for Literature, the Shiba Ryotaro Prize, the Yamamoto Shūgorō Prize, and the Naoki Prize. Her work has been widely adapted for film, television, manga, and video games, and has been translated into over a dozen languages.
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Seishi Yokomizo was a Japanese mystery novelist, known for creating the fictional detective Kosuke Kindaichi.
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The Mystery Writers of Japan Awards are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of Japan. They honor the best in crime fiction and critical/biographical work published in the previous year.
The Edogawa Rampo Prize, named after Edogawa Rampo, is a Japanese literary award which has been presented every year by the Mystery Writers of Japan since 1955.
Hyouka is a 2001 Japanese mystery novel written by Honobu Yonezawa. It is the first volume of the Classic Literature Club series. Five additional volumes have been published between 2002 and 2016. A manga adaptation drawn by Taskohna began serialization in the March 2012 issue of Kadokawa Shoten's Shōnen Ace. A 22-episode anime adaptation produced by Kyoto Animation and directed by Yasuhiro Takemoto aired from April 22 to September 16, 2012. A live-action film, Hyouka: Forbidden Secrets, directed by Mari Asato and starring Kento Yamazaki and Alice Hirose was released on November 3, 2017.
Naoyuki Uchida, who writes under his pen name Yukito Ayatsuji, is a Japanese writer of mystery and horror. He is one of the founders of Honkaku Mystery Writers Club of Japan and one of the representative writers of the new traditionalist movement in Japanese mystery writing. His wife is Fuyumi Ono, a Japanese fantasy and horror writer who is known for her fantasy series The Twelve Kingdoms.
Taku Ashibe is a Japanese mystery writer. He is a member of the Honkaku Mystery Writers Club of Japan and one of the representative writers of the new traditionalist movement in Japanese mystery writing.
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The Yamamoto Shūgorō Prize (山本周五郎賞) is a Japanese literary award established in 1988 in memory of author Shūgorō Yamamoto. It was created and continues to be sponsored by the Shinchosha Publishing company, which published Yamamoto's Complete Works. The prize is awarded annually to a new work of fiction considered to exemplify the art of storytelling, by a five-person panel consisting of fellow authors. Winners receive ¥1 million.
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.
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Koji Yanagi is a Japanese writer of mystery and thriller. He is a member of the Mystery Writers of Japan.
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Nanae Kumagai, known by her pen name Riku Onda, is a Japanese writer. Onda has won the Yoshikawa Eiji Prize for New Writers, the Japan Booksellers' Award, the Mystery Writers of Japan Award for Best Novel, the Yamamoto Shūgorō Prize, and the Naoki Prize. Her work has been adapted for film and television.
Hyouka (氷菓) is a Japanese anime television series based on the Classic Literature Club series written by Honobu Yonezawa. It was named after the first volume of the series, Hyouka, and made into a 22-episode televised animation series. The story follows Houtarou Oreki, a first-year high school student who meets Eru Chitanda, Satoshi Fukube, and Mayaka Ibara after joining his school's Classic Literature Club.
Biblia Koshodō no Jiken Techō is a Japanese light novel series written by En Mikami and illustrated by Hagu Koshijima. It began publication by ASCII Media Works' Media Works Bunko imprint in March 2011; ten volumes have been released. The novel has been adapted into two manga series, a television drama, and a live-action film.
Shōshimin Series is a Japanese mystery novel series written by Honobu Yonezawa. The series began publication by Tokyo Sogensha in December 2004, with five volumes being released as of April 2024. A manga adaptation of the first novel was serialized in Square Enix's shōnen manga magazine Monthly GFantasy from April 2007 to December 2008. A manga adaptation of the second novel was serialized in Monthly GFantasy from February 2010 to January 2011. An anime television series adaptation of the first and second novel produced by Lapin Track premiered in July 2024.
