, born 6 February 1956, is a Japanese

Japanese people

The are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...

 novelist. His real name is Yasuhiro Okuizumi.

Biography

Hikaru Okuizumi was born in Mikawa

Mikawa, Yamagata

is a town located in Higashitagawa District, Yamagata, Japan.As of 2003, the town has an estimated population of 7,771 and a density of 234.00 persons per km². The total area is 33.21 km².-External links:*...

, Yamagata Prefecture

Yamagata Prefecture

-Fruit:Yamagata Prefecture is the largest producer of cherries and pears in Japan. A large quantity of other kinds of fruits such as grapes, apples, peaches, melons, persimmons and watermelons are also produced.- Demographics :...

, and attended high school in Saitama Prefecture

Saitama Prefecture

is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of the island of Honshu. The capital is the city of Saitama.This prefecture is part of the Greater Tokyo Area, and most of Saitama's cities can be described as suburbs of Tokyo, to which a large amount of residents commute each day.- History...

, before studying Humanities

Humanities

The humanities are academic disciplines that study the human condition, using methods that are primarily analytical, critical, or speculative, as distinguished from the mainly empirical approaches of the natural sciences....

 at ICU

International Christian University

There are several rankings related to ICU, shown below.-Alumni rankings:According to the Weekly Economist's 2010 rankings and the PRESIDENT's article on 2006/10/16, graduates from ICU have the 24th best employment rate in 400 major companies, and their average graduate salary is the 4th best in...

 in Tokyo

Tokyo

, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...

. He completed a master's course at the same university, but dropped out midway through his doctoral course. In 1993, he won the Noma Literary Prize for New Writers for the novel, Novalis no Inyō, and the Akutagawa Prize

Akutagawa Prize

The is a Japanese literary award presented semi-annually. It was established in 1935 by Kan Kikuchi, then-editor of Bungeishunjū magazine, in memory of author Ryūnosuke Akutagawa...

 for The Stones Cry Out the following year. The Stones Cry Out has been translated into a number of languages including English and French. Okuizumi started working at Kinki University

Kinki University

, or , is a private non-sectarian and coeducational university based in Higashiosaka, Osaka, Japan with campuses in five other locations: Nara, Nara; Ōsakasayama, Osaka; Uchita, Wakayama; Higashihiroshima, Hiroshima; and Iizuka, Fukuoka....

in 1999, and continues to teach there.

Selected works

• Novalis no Inyō (1993)
• The Stones Cry Out (Japanese title: Ishi no Raireki) (1994)
• Banal na Genshō (1994)
• Wagahai ha Neko de Aru Satsujin Jiken (1996)
• Plato Gakuen (1997)
• Grand Mystery (1998)
• Chōrui Gakusha no Fantasy (2001)
• The New Journey to the Center of the Earth (2002–2003)
• Modal na Jishō (2005)
• "The black toe" (2008)