Maha Harada

Japanese novelist

Maha Harada

Native name|

原田 マハ

Born| 1962 (age 62–63)
Kodaira, Tokyo, Japan
Occupation| Writer
Language| Japanese
Education| Kwansei Gakuin University
Alma mater| Waseda University
Genre|

* Novel
* historical fiction
* thriller
* biographical novel

Notable works|

* Kafū o machiwabite
* Rakuen no kanvasu
* Master Leach

Notable awards|

* Japan Love Story Grand Prize
* Yamamoto Shūgorō Prize
* Nitta Jiro Literature Prize

Website
www.haradamaha.com

Maha Harada (原田 マハ, Harada Maha; born 1962) is a Japanese writer. She has won the Japan Love Story Grand Prize, the Yamamoto Shūgorō Prize, and the Nitta Jiro Literature Prize, she has been nominated multiple times for the Naoki Prize, and several of her novels have been adapted for film and television.

## Early life and education

[edit]

Harada was born in 1962 in Kodaira, Tokyo, Japan.[1] Her father, a seller of art books and encyclopedias, moved the family to Okayama, where Harada experienced bullying from her school classmates and started writing stories to combat her isolation.[2] She graduated from high school in Okayama and entered Kwansei Gakuin University to study German literature, but later changed her focus and graduated with a degree in Japanese literature.[3][4] After graduation she worked as a graphic designer and married her husband, then worked in a series of art direction and curation jobs, including five years at the Japanese conglomerate Itochu, while also attending graduate school in art history at Waseda University.[2] Harada subsequently worked as an art curator for the Mori Art Museum, including a collaboration with the Museum of Modern Art, but left in 2002 to work as a freelance art curator.[5][6]

## Career

[edit]

Harada made her literary debut in her early 40s. Her first novel, Kafū o machiwabite (カフーを待ちわびて, Waiting for Good News), won the inaugural Japan Love Story Grand Prize, awarded to a newcomer writing in the love story genre, and was published in 2006 by Takarajimasha, the prize's sponsor.[7] It sold over 370,000 copies.[8] The book was later adapted into a 2009 Yu Nakai film of the same name starring Maiko and Tetsuji Tamayama.[9]

After her debut Harada wrote several more novels that were subsequently adapted for film and television. Her 2007 novel Ippunkan dake (一分間だけ, Only a Moment) was later adapted into 2014 film of the same name, made in Taiwan and released nationwide in Japan.[10] Her 2010 novel Honjitsu wa ohigara mo yoku (本日は、お日柄もよく, Today is a Good Day), about a woman whose romantic setbacks lead her to success as a speechwriter, was later adapted into the 2017 Wowow TV drama starring Manami Higa and Kyoko Hasegawa.[11] Her 2010 cell phone novel Runway Beat (ランウェイ・ビート, Ran'uei bīto), about teenagers who organize a fashion show, was adapted into the 2011 Kentaro Otani film Runway Beat starring Nanami Sakuraba and Mirei Kiritani.[12][13] Her 2011 novel Dērē gāruzu (でーれーガールズ, Fantastic Girls), about a broken friendship between two high school girls living in Okayama in 1980 who meet again thirty years later, was later adapted into a 2015 Akiko Ohku film starring Rika Adachi and Mio Yūki.[14]

In 2012 Shinchosha published Harada's novel Rakuen no kanvasu (楽園のカンヴァス, Painting of Paradise), a story about a disgraced art curator asked to help with negotiations for a painting whose provenance she previously investigated.[15] Rakuen no kanvasu won the 25th Yamamoto Shūgorō Prize.[16] Later that year the book was nominated for the 147th Naoki Prize, but the prize went to Mizuki Tsujimura.[17]

Harada was nominated twice more for the Naoki Prize without winning. In 2013 Harada's novel Jiveruni no shokutaku (ジヴェルニーの食卓, Dinner Tables of Giverny), a work of historical fiction that tells stories about French painters Claude Monet, Henri Matisse, Edgar Degas, and Paul Cézanne from the perspective of women in their lives, was nominated for the 149th Naoki Prize.[18] Her 2016 suspense novel Anmaku no Guernica (暗幕のゲルニカ, Guernica Under Cover), a thriller about the return of Picasso's Guernica to the Museum of Modern Art that combines a fictionalized historical account of French photographer Dora Maar with an entirely fictional narrative about an art curator in New York City following the September 11 attacks, was nominated for the 155th Naoki Prize.[19]

In 2017 Harada won the 36th Nitta Jiro Literature Prize for her 2016 novel Rīchi sensei (リーチ先生, Master Leach), a work of historical fiction in which the main character, a bilingual orphaned Japanese teenage boy, becomes an accomplished potter under the tutelage of British ceramic artist Bernard Leach.[20] In 2018 her book Sweet Home (スイート・ホーム, Suīto hōmu), a collection of linked stories about a neighborhood pastry shop, was published by Popurasha.[6] The following year she received her fourth Naoki Prize nomination, for her novel Utsukushii orokamonotachi no taburō (美しき愚かものたちのタブロー).[21]

## Personal life

[edit]

Harada's brother is the novelist Munenori Harada.[1]

## Recognition

[edit]

* 2005: 1st Japan Love Story Grand Prize[7]
* 2012: 25th Yamamoto Shūgorō Prize[22]
* 2017: 36th Nitta Jiro Literature Prize[23]

## Film and other adaptations

[edit]

### Film

[edit]

* Kafū o machiwabite (カフーを待ちわびて, Waiting for Good News), 2007[9]
* Runway Beat (ランウェイ・ビート), 2011[12]
* Ippunkan dake (一分間だけ, One Minute More), 2014[10]
* Dērē gāruzu (でーれーガールズ, Fantastic Girls), 2015[14]

### Television

[edit]

* Honjitsu wa ohigara mo yoku (本日は、お日柄もよく, Today is a Good Day), Wowow, 2017[24]

## Selected works

[edit]

* Kafū o machiwabite (カフーを待ちわびて, Waiting for Good News), Takarajimasha, 2006, ISBN 9784796652124
* Ippunkan dake (一分間だけ, Only a Moment), Takarajimasha, 2007, ISBN 9784796657747
* Runway Beat (ランウェイ・ビート, Ran'uei bīto), Takarajimasha, 2010, ISBN 9784796678346
* Honjitsu wa ohigara mo yoku (本日は、お日柄もよく, Today is a Good Day), Tokumashoten, 2010, ISBN 9784198629854
* Dērē gāruzu (でーれーガールズ, Fantastic Girls), Shōdensha, 2011, ISBN 9784396633714
* Rakuen no kanvasu (楽園のカンヴァス, Painting of Paradise), Shinchosha, 2012, ISBN 9784103317517
* Jiveruni no shokutaku (ジヴェルニーの食卓, Dinner Tables of Giverny), Shueisha, 2013, ISBN 9784087715057
* Anmaku no Guernica (暗幕のゲルニカ, Guernica Under Cover), Shinchosha, 2016, ISBN 9784103317524
* Rīchi sensei (リーチ先生, Master Leach), Shueisha, 2016, ISBN 9784087710113
* Sweet Home (スイート・ホーム, Suīto hōmu), Popurasha, 2018, ISBN 9784591156681
* Utsukushii orokamonotachi no taburō (美しき愚かものたちのタブロー), Bungeishunjū, 2019

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b "原田マハさんが描いた、ゴッホと名画を導いた日本人画商との邂逅". Sports Hochi (in Japanese). December 2, 2017. Archived from the original on November 3, 2018. Retrieved November 2, 2018.
2. ^ a b 瀧井, 朝世 (August 22, 2012). "作家の読書道 第128回：原田マハさん" [Writer's Reading Path, 128th Edition: Maha Harada] (in Japanese). Archived from the original on November 3, 2018. Retrieved October 30, 2018.
3. ^ 原田, マハ (January 16, 2018). "震災生きた命こそ… 原田マハさんが小説に込めた思い". Asahi Shimbun (Interview) (in Japanese). Interviewed by 辻村周次郎. Archived from the original on November 3, 2018. Retrieved November 2, 2018.
4. ^ "光のただなかにいた関学の4年間（原田マハさん 85年文卒）". Kwansei Gakuin University (in Japanese). October 10, 2012. Archived from the original on November 3, 2018. Retrieved October 30, 2018.
5. ^ "作家 原田マハさん" [Writer Maha Harada]. Mori Building Company (in Japanese). June 5, 2009. Archived from the original on November 3, 2018. Retrieved November 2, 2018.
6. ^ a b 野本, 由起 (March 6, 2018). "原田マハが描くスイーツのような物語は、宝塚近くの住宅街にある洋菓子店「スイート・ホーム」が舞台". Da Vinci News (in Japanese). Archived from the original on November 3, 2018. Retrieved November 2, 2018.
7. ^ a b "過去の受賞作と講評" [Past Winning Works with Reviews]. Japan Love Story & Entertainment Awards (in Japanese). Takarajimasha. Archived from the original on November 3, 2018. Retrieved October 30, 2018.
8. ^ "Authors: Maha Harada". Books From Japan. Archived from the original on November 3, 2018. Retrieved October 30, 2018.
9. ^ a b "カフーを待ちわびて (2009)". Cinema Today (in Japanese). February 28, 2009. Archived from the original on November 3, 2018. Retrieved November 2, 2018.
10. ^ a b "原田マハの小説『一分間だけ』が台湾で映画化、仕事と恋と愛犬の切ない葛藤描く". Cinra.net (in Japanese). March 11, 2014. Archived from the original on November 3, 2018. Retrieved November 2, 2018.
11. ^ "原田マハ原作ドラマ『本日は、お日柄もよく』に比嘉愛未、長谷川京子ら". Cinra.net (in Japanese). October 14, 2016. Archived from the original on November 3, 2018. Retrieved October 30, 2018.
12. ^ a b "１０代のモード、映画に 「何をもっておしゃれとするか」". Asahi Shimbun (in Japanese). April 4, 2011. Archived from the original on June 5, 2017. Retrieved October 30, 2018.
13. ^ "吉瀬美智子ら豪華キャスト「ランウェイ☆ビート」に続々と出演決定". Eiga.com News (in Japanese). August 25, 2010. Archived from the original on November 3, 2018. Retrieved November 2, 2018.
14. ^ a b "「でーれーガールズ」東京公開 足立梨花らが岡山ロケの思い出語る". Eiga.com News (in Japanese). February 22, 2015. Archived from the original on November 3, 2018. Retrieved November 2, 2018.
15. ^ "Synopsis: Painting of Paradise". Books From Japan. Archived from the original on November 3, 2018. Retrieved November 2, 2018.
16. ^ "三島由紀夫賞に青木淳悟さん／山本周五郎賞は原田さん" [Mishima Yukio Prize goes to Jungo Aoki, Yamamoto Shūgorō Prize to Maha Harada]. Shikoku Shimbun (in Japanese). May 15, 2012. Retrieved November 2, 2018.
17. ^ "第147回「芥川賞」に鹿島田真希氏の『冥土めぐり』 「直木賞」に辻村深月氏の『鍵のない夢を見る』" [147th Akutagawa Prize goes to Maki Kashimada's Meidomeguri, Naoki Prize goes to Mizuki Tsujimura's Kagi no nai yume wo miru] (in Japanese). July 17, 2012. Archived from the original on July 26, 2018. Retrieved November 2, 2018.
18. ^ "第149回「芥川賞・直木賞」候補11作決定 湊かなえ氏が初ノミネート". Oricon News (in Japanese). July 4, 2013. Archived from the original on November 3, 2018. Retrieved November 2, 2018.
19. ^ "第155回「芥川賞」に村田沙耶香氏『コンビニ人間』 直木賞に荻原浩氏『海の見える理髪店』". Oricon News (in Japanese). July 19, 2016. Archived from the original on August 2, 2018. Retrieved November 2, 2018.
20. ^ "「美術史小説」をアートの入り口に 新田次郎文学賞受賞の原田マハさん". Sankei Shimbun (in Japanese). June 11, 2017. Archived from the original on November 3, 2018. Retrieved October 30, 2018.
21. ^ "令和初「芥川賞・直木賞」候補作発表 芥川賞は古市憲寿が連続選出、直木賞6作はすべて女性作家". Oricon News. June 17, 2019. Retrieved June 25, 2019.
22. ^ "山本周五郎賞 過去の受賞作品" [Yamamoto Shūgorō Prize Past Winning Works] (in Japanese). Shinchosha. Archived from the original on October 3, 2018. Retrieved November 2, 2018.
23. ^ "新田次郎文学賞 原田マハさんの「リーチ先生」に" [Nitta Jiro Literature Prize goes to Maha Harada's Master Leach]. Mainichi Shimbun (in Japanese). April 18, 2017. Archived from the original on November 3, 2018. Retrieved November 2, 2018.
24. ^ "連続ドラマW 本日は、お日柄もよく". Wowow (in Japanese). Archived from the original on November 3, 2018. Retrieved November 2, 2018.

Authority control databases

International|

* ISNI
* VIAF
* WorldCat

National|

* Germany
* United States
* Japan
* Korea

Academics|

* CiNii

Other|

* IdRef