Honobu Yonezawa (米澤 穂信, Yonezawa Honobu) is a Japanese mystery writer popularly known for the Classic Literature Club series. He was born on Gifu prefecture, studied in a local Hida High School, and graduated with a degree in Literature in Kanazawa University.
Profile
Yonezawa's interest in writing began at a young age. At age 11, he wrote a derivative work which served as a sequel to H.G. Wells' "The War of the Worlds", and began writing original works upon reaching second year of middle school. On his second year as a Literature student in Kanazawa University, he opened a website called Pandreamium (汎夢殿, Hanmuden, lit., "All-Dreams Mansion"), where he would publish his works. (The Pandreamium website was closed down before Yonezawa's official debut as a writer, causing his published works in the site to remain inaccessible to the public.) Although Yonezawa had written many kinds of works during his career, it was only when he was exposed to the works of Kaoru Kitamura, namely "Sora Tobu Uma" ("The Horse Flying in the Sky") and "Roku no Miya no Himegimi" ("Maidens of the Six Temples"), that his interest shifted towards writing mystery.
After graduating from college, in an effort to improve his writing skills within the two years that would follow, he moved to Kozan City in Gifu prefecture and worked as a bookstore employee as he continued writing. In 2001, his work "Hyouka" won the Encouragement Award in the 5th Kadokawa School Novel Prize in the Young Adult Mystery and Horror category, thus marking his debut. "Hyouka" was first published in Pandreamium and was well-received by among his works, making it his entry of choice for the competition. "Hyouka" and its sequel volume "Gusha no Endororu" ("Fool's Closing Credits") were later published in Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko's then newly-established Sneaker Mystery Club.
Despite having finished the third volume of what will become the Classic Literature Club series, he also began working on a new series entitled "Sayonara Yousei" ("Farewell Fairy"), which was found difficult to categorize under a publishing label. It was only through the recommendation of mystery writer Kiyoshi Kasai that the series was published by Tokyo Sougensha, which had a strong career of publishing mystery novels. Later, Yonezawa used Yugoslavia as an inspiration for the fictional setting his graduation thesis work. This standalone work would eventually be featured in the 2005 Kono Mystery ga Sugoi!, further launching him into fame. On that same year, Yonezawa published "Shunki Gentei Ichigo Taruto Jiken" (The Case of the Springtime-Only Strawberry Tart"), the first volume of the Lower Middle Class series which also shared the theme of everyday mystery-solving with the Classics Club series.
In 2012, the Classics Club series was adapted into Hyouka, a 26-episode anime series by Kyoto Animation, and even Yonezawa himself was known to be a fan of the adaptation. In 2013, Yonezawa was chosen to become part of the screening committee for Mysteries! Shinjinjou award.
In 2016, the Japanese version of the largest literature magazine in the English-speaking world, Granta, nominated Yonezawa for the award of Best of Young Japanese Novelists.
Bibliography
Adaptations
External Links
- Official website (in Japanese)
- Official Twitter (@honobu_yonezawa)
References
- Japanese Wikipedia article on Honobu Yonezawa. Translated from Japanese. Accessed March 6, 2017.