natsuokirinoNatsuo Kirino is the author of the recently released The Goddess Chronicle, from Canongate Books, as well as bestselling crime fiction such as Out, Grotesque, and Real World. She has graciously consented to an email interview with Three Guys One Book. Special thanks are due to Ms Kirino and also to Ayako Akaogi for the translation of the questions to Japanese and the responses to English.

James Costa: Ms. Kirino, thank you for allowing me to interview you. You are truly one of my favorite Japanese writers. You are mostly known for mysteries in the US. What made you decide to publish a book based on an ancient myth as your next book?

Natsuo Kirino: I’m the one who should thank you for reading my books. It is a thrill to think that I have young readers in the US. I’ve been introduced to American readers through the translations of my crime novels such as Out, Grotesque, and Real World and this has led to my categorization as a mystery writer. However, I write novels of various genres. As for writing a book based on a myth, the British publisher, Canongate Books, invited me through the publisher Kadokawa Shoten to write a novel for their Myths series. They requested that I write an original novel based on an ancient Japanese myth. I felt the idea sophisticated and decided to work on the project.

The story  of Izanagi and Izanami is well-known among Japanese myths. Reading the myth, however, where a woman is excessively demeaned because her association with childbirth is considered unclean, always makes me feel sad; and such bias is likely the source of the discrimination women still experience today. . Thus, I wanted to take this opportunity to introduce the world to this Japanese myth.

Being born a woman is not a matter of choice. Izanami is a deity, but, as a woman she was heavily burdened with her sex and the role of reproduction. Life and death. Sex and uncleanness. I created the sisters Namima and Kamikuu to symbolize this.

I have a rather strong desire to see directly the political intentions which were often concealed in so-called “Myths.”

I learned Rebecca Copeland did a wonderful translation, and sincerely thank her for her work.

goddessJames Costa: I truly enjoyed The Goddess Chronicle. Did you find it confining as a writer to work on a book where you were restrained by the story of the myth?

Natsuo Kirino: No, I didn’t. In fact, I enjoyed incorporating an original story into a myth that is well-known in Japan.

James Costa: Do you think certain people have their fate written for them as in the book?

Natsuo Kirino: In societies where the system of heredity are still in place, such as royalism or certain traditional performing arts, people do have their fates written for them. Also, in the places where sexual discrimination or racial discrimination still exist, people may find that their way of living rather than their fate may be predetermined. Human beings should be able to live freely. If they cannot accomplish this, they should fight to attain it.

James Costa: I love the scene when Namima turns into a wasp to see the fate of her husband and daughter. Is there any living creature you would like to be for the day and see life from their perspective?

 Natsuo Kirino: Insects are too small and birds are too remote to see. I love dogs, and so I would like to be able to see others through the eyes of a dog.

James Costa: Finally more and more Japanese writers are being published in English. Why do you think it’s taken so long for it to happen, and who are some of the Japanese writers that American readers are missing out on?

Natsuo Kirino: I presume it is because the world was not much interested in Japan as a country. On the other hand, Japanese have read literature from around the world for a long time.

I think most Japanese writers have had at least one of their works introduced. My favorite Japanese writer at present is the young male writer, Yusuke Miyauchi.

James Costa: What are some of the books that influenced your life or made you want to become a writer?

Natsuo Kirino: There are too many books to choose.

But from among those that are categorized as “world literature,” I would list Gabriel Garcia Márquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude, Manuel Puig’s Kiss of the Spider Woman, Agota Kristof’s The Notebook, Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go, Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov and others. There are many unforgettable books.

I still repeatedly read Fumiko Hayashi’s Floating Clouds. It is enlightening.

James Costa: Who are your favorite writers? What book or books are you reading now?

Natsuo Kirino: For Japanese writers, Junichiro Tanizaki and Fumiko Hayashi are my favorite.

Now I am reading books on “3.11,”: that is, accounts of the Great Earthquake that hit the North-East region of Japan on March 11, 2011.

James Costa: What is happening with the publication of What Remains? Was it ever published in English?  I have never been able to find a copy of it and believe me I’ve tried.

Natsuo Kirino: My understanding is that the book was translated, but that apparently there were some problems with accuracy or nuances in the translation. I wasn’t informed of the details so I am afraid I do not know what happened to the translation.

The story contains shocking aspects, but what I intended to write about was the way a person struggles to express such things.

James Costa: Your next book to be published in English is called In. Sadly, we have to wait until 2014 for it to be published. Care to share any details of what it’s about?

Natsuo Kirino: The protagonist of the novel is a woman writer named Tamaki. In her private life, she is almost crushed by the deep sorrow and pain she feels because her former lover is on his deathbed. In her business life, she is working on a story that tries to discover the identity of an unnamed mistress who appeared in a novel written by a certain male writer. Tamaki keeps meeting women she thinks might be the mistress, but she never reaches the truth. One day, Tamaki learns that her former lover has passed away…. In deals with the interplay of reality and fiction.