{{Short description|Japanese novelist}} {{Infobox writer | name = Maha Harada | honorific_suffix = | image = | image_size = | image_upright = | alt = | caption = | native_name = 原田 マハ | birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1962}} | birth_place = Kodaira, Tokyo, Japan | occupation = Writer | language = Japanese | education = Kwansei Gakuin University | alma_mater = Waseda University | genre = {{flatlist| *Novel *historical fiction *thriller *biographical novel }} | notableworks = {{plainlist| * ''Kafū o machiwabite'' * ''Rakuen no kanvasu'' * ''Master Leach'' }} | awards = {{plainlist| * Japan Love Story Grand Prize * Yamamoto Shūgorō Prize * Nitta Jiro Literature Prize }} | website = {{url|http://www.haradamaha.com}} }} {{nihongo|'''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 == Harada was born in 1962 in Kodaira, Tokyo, Japan.<ref name=hochibio>{{cite news|url=https://www.hochi.co.jp/topics/serial/CO019592/20171201-OHT1T50179.html|language=japanese|title=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|work=Sports Hochi|date=December 2, 2017|access-date=November 2, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181103132650/https://www.hochi.co.jp/topics/serial/CO019592/20171201-OHT1T50179.html|archive-date=November 3, 2018|url-status=live|df=mdy-all}}</ref> 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.<ref name=webdoku>{{cite web|url=http://www.webdoku.jp/rensai/sakka/michi128_harada/|language=japanese|title=作家の読書道 第128回：原田マハさん|trans-title=Writer's Reading Path, 128th Edition: Maha Harada|last=瀧井|first=朝世|date=August 22, 2012|access-date=October 30, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181103092026/http://www.webdoku.jp/rensai/sakka/michi128_harada/|archive-date=November 3, 2018|url-status=live|df=mdy-all}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite interview|url=https://www.asahi.com/articles/ASL1H5V9NKDWPTIL00B.html|language=japanese|title=震災生きた命こそ… 原田マハさんが小説に込めた思い|last=原田|first=マハ|interviewer=辻村周次郎|work=Asahi Shimbun|date=January 16, 2018|access-date=November 2, 2018|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20181103092152/https://www.asahi.com/articles/ASL1H5V9NKDWPTIL00B.html|archivedate=November 3, 2018|url-status=live|df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.kwansei.ac.jp/pr/pr_005190.html|language=japanese|title=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）|website=Kwansei Gakuin University|date=October 10, 2012|access-date=October 30, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181103092046/https://www.kwansei.ac.jp/pr/pr_005190.html|archive-date=November 3, 2018|url-status=live|df=mdy-all}}</ref> 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.<ref name=webdoku /> 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.mori.co.jp/hillscast/2009/06/20090605110042001398.html/|language=japanese|title=作家 原田マハさん|trans-title=Writer Maha Harada|website=Mori Building Company|date=June 5, 2009|access-date=November 2, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181103131318/https://www.mori.co.jp/hillscast/2009/06/20090605110042001398.html/|archive-date=November 3, 2018|url-status=live|df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref name=dvinterview />
== Career ==
Harada made her literary debut in her early 40s. Her first novel, ''{{nihongo3|Waiting for Good News|カフーを待ちわびて|Kafū o machiwabite}}'', 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.<ref name=lovestory /> It sold over 370,000 copies.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.booksfromjapan.jp/authors/item/975-maha-harada|title=Authors: Maha Harada|website=Books From Japan|access-date=October 30, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181103092148/http://www.booksfromjapan.jp/authors/item/975-maha-harada|archive-date=November 3, 2018|url-status=live|df=mdy-all}}</ref> The book was later adapted into a 2009 Yu Nakai film of the same name starring Maiko and Tetsuji Tamayama.<ref name=goodnews>{{cite web|url=https://www.cinematoday.jp/movie/T0006357|language=japanese|title=カフーを待ちわびて (2009)|website=Cinema Today|date=February 28, 2009|access-date=November 2, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181103091853/https://www.cinematoday.jp/movie/T0006357|archive-date=November 3, 2018|url-status=live|df=mdy-all}}</ref>
After her debut Harada wrote several more novels that were subsequently adapted for film and television. Her 2007 novel ''{{nihongo3|Only a Moment|一分間だけ|Ippunkan dake}}'' was later adapted into 2014 film of the same name, made in Taiwan and released nationwide in Japan.<ref name=ippundake>{{cite news|url=https://www.cinra.net/news/20140311-ippunkandake|language=japanese|title=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|work=Cinra.net|date=March 11, 2014|access-date=November 2, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181103134229/https://www.cinra.net/news/20140311-ippunkandake|archive-date=November 3, 2018|url-status=live|df=mdy-all}}</ref> Her 2010 novel ''{{nihongo3|Today is a Good Day|本日は、お日柄もよく|Honjitsu wa ohigara mo yoku}}'', 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.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.cinra.net/news/20161014-ohigaramoyoku|language=japanese|title=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|work=Cinra.net|date=October 14, 2016|access-date=October 30, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181103151245/https://www.cinra.net/news/20161014-ohigaramoyoku|archive-date=November 3, 2018|url-status=live|df=mdy-all}}</ref> Her 2010 cell phone novel ''{{nihongo|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.<ref name=runwaybeat>{{cite news|url=http://www.asahi.com/fashion/topics/TKY201103310377.html|language=japanese|title=１０代のモード、映画に 「何をもっておしゃれとするか」|work=Asahi Shimbun|date=April 4, 2011|access-date=October 30, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170605162043/http://www.asahi.com/fashion/topics/TKY201103310377.html|archive-date=June 5, 2017|url-status=live|df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref name=runwaybeat2>{{cite news|url=https://eiga.com/news/20100825/1/|language=japanese|title=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|work=Eiga.com News|date=August 25, 2010|access-date=November 2, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181103091934/https://eiga.com/news/20100825/1/|archive-date=November 3, 2018|url-status=live|df=mdy-all}}</ref> Her 2011 novel ''{{nihongo3|Fantastic Girls|でーれーガールズ|Dērē gāruzu}}'', 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.<ref name=fantastic>{{cite news|url=https://eiga.com/news/20150222/6/|language=japanese|title=「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|work=Eiga.com News|date=February 22, 2015|access-date=November 2, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181103131149/https://eiga.com/news/20150222/6/|archive-date=November 3, 2018|url-status=live|df=mdy-all}}</ref>
In 2012 Shinchosha published Harada's novel ''{{nihongo3|Painting of Paradise|楽園のカンヴァス|Rakuen no kanvasu}}'', a story about a disgraced art curator asked to help with negotiations for a painting whose provenance she previously investigated.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.booksfromjapan.jp/publications/item/976-painting-of-paradise-la-toile-du-paradis|title=Synopsis: Painting of Paradise|website=Books From Japan|access-date=November 2, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181103092202/http://www.booksfromjapan.jp/publications/item/976-painting-of-paradise-la-toile-du-paradis|archive-date=November 3, 2018|url-status=live|df=mdy-all}}</ref> ''Rakuen no kanvasu'' won the 25th Yamamoto Shūgorō Prize.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.shikoku-np.co.jp/national/culture_entertainment/20120515000613|language=japanese|title=三島由紀夫賞に青木淳悟さん／山本周五郎賞は原田さん|trans-title=Mishima Yukio Prize goes to Jungo Aoki, Yamamoto Shūgorō Prize to Maha Harada|work=Shikoku Shimbun|date=May 15, 2012|access-date=November 2, 2018}}</ref> Later that year the book was nominated for the 147th Naoki Prize, but the prize went to Mizuki Tsujimura.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.oricon.co.jp/news/2014444/full/|language=japanese|title=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』|trans-title=147th Akutagawa Prize goes to Maki Kashimada's ''Meidomeguri'', Naoki Prize goes to Mizuki Tsujimura's ''Kagi no nai yume wo miru''|date=July 17, 2012|access-date=November 2, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180726234200/https://www.oricon.co.jp/news/2014444/full/|archive-date=July 26, 2018|url-status=live|df=mdy-all}}</ref>
Harada was nominated twice more for the Naoki Prize without winning. In 2013 Harada's novel ''{{nihongo3|Dinner Tables of Giverny|ジヴェルニーの食卓|Jiveruni no shokutaku}}'', 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.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.oricon.co.jp/news/2026170/full/|language=japanese|title=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|work=Oricon News|date=July 4, 2013|access-date=November 2, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181103092157/https://www.oricon.co.jp/news/2026170/full/|archive-date=November 3, 2018|url-status=live|df=mdy-all}}</ref> Her 2016 suspense novel ''{{nihongo3|Guernica Under Cover|暗幕のゲルニカ|Anmaku no Guernica}}'', 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.oricon.co.jp/news/2075322/full/|language=japanese|title=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』|work=Oricon News|date=July 19, 2016|access-date=November 2, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180802040950/https://www.oricon.co.jp/news/2075322/full/|archive-date=August 2, 2018|url-status=live|df=mdy-all}}</ref>
In 2017 Harada won the 36th Nitta Jiro Literature Prize for her 2016 novel ''{{nihongo3|Master Leach|リーチ先生|Rīchi sensei}}'', 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.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.sankei.com/life/news/170611/lif1706110019-n1.html|language=japanese|title=「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|work=Sankei Shimbun|date=June 11, 2017|access-date=October 30, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181103092117/https://www.sankei.com/life/news/170611/lif1706110019-n1.html|archive-date=November 3, 2018|url-status=live|df=mdy-all}}</ref> In 2018 her book ''{{nihongo|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.<ref name=dvinterview>{{cite news|url=https://ddnavi.com/interview/439575/a/|language=japanese|title=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|work=Da Vinci News|last=野本|first=由起|date=March 6, 2018|access-date=November 2, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181103092014/https://ddnavi.com/interview/439575/a/|archive-date=November 3, 2018|url-status=live|df=mdy-all}}</ref> The following year she received her fourth Naoki Prize nomination, for her novel ''{{nihongo||美しき愚かものたちのタブロー|Utsukushii orokamonotachi no taburō}}''.<ref name=naoki4oricon>{{cite news|url=https://www.oricon.co.jp/news/2137650/full/|title=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|work=Oricon News|date=June 17, 2019|access-date=June 25, 2019}}</ref>
== Personal life == Harada's brother is the novelist Munenori Harada.<ref name=hochibio />
== Recognition == * 2005: 1st Japan Love Story Grand Prize<ref name=lovestory>{{cite web|url=http://japanlovestory.jp/archives|language=japanese|title=過去の受賞作と講評|trans-title=Past Winning Works with Reviews|website=Japan Love Story & Entertainment Awards|publisher=Takarajimasha|access-date=October 30, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181103091919/http://japanlovestory.jp/archives|archive-date=November 3, 2018|url-status=live|df=mdy-all}}</ref> * 2012: 25th Yamamoto Shūgorō Prize<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.shinchosha.co.jp/prizes/yamamotosho/archive.html|language=japanese|title=山本周五郎賞 過去の受賞作品|trans-title=Yamamoto Shūgorō Prize Past Winning Works|publisher=Shinchosha|access-date=November 2, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181003101549/https://www.shinchosha.co.jp/prizes/yamamotosho/archive.html|archive-date=October 3, 2018|url-status=live|df=mdy-all}}</ref> * 2017: 36th Nitta Jiro Literature Prize<ref>{{cite news|url=https://mainichi.jp/articles/20170419/k00/00m/040/073000c|language=japanese|title=新田次郎文学賞 原田マハさんの「リーチ先生」に|trans-title=Nitta Jiro Literature Prize goes to Maha Harada's ''Master Leach''|work=Mainichi Shimbun|date=April 18, 2017|access-date=November 2, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181103210118/https://mainichi.jp/articles/20170419/k00/00m/040/073000c|archive-date=November 3, 2018|url-status=live|df=mdy-all}}</ref>
== Film and other adaptations ==
=== Film === * ''{{nihongo3|Waiting for Good News|カフーを待ちわびて|Kafū o machiwabite}}'', 2007<ref name=goodnews /> * ''{{nihongo|Runway Beat|ランウェイ・ビート|}}'', 2011<ref name=runwaybeat /> * ''{{nihongo3|One Minute More|一分間だけ|Ippunkan dake}}'', 2014<ref name=ippundake /> * ''{{nihongo3|Fantastic Girls|でーれーガールズ|Dērē gāruzu}}'', 2015<ref name=fantastic />
=== Television === * ''{{nihongo3|Today is a Good Day|本日は、お日柄もよく|Honjitsu wa ohigara mo yoku}}'', Wowow, 2017<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.wowow.co.jp/dramaw/ohigara/|language=japanese|title=連続ドラマW 本日は、お日柄もよく|website=Wowow|access-date=November 2, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181103092041/https://www.wowow.co.jp/dramaw/ohigara/|archive-date=November 3, 2018|url-status=live|df=mdy-all}}</ref>
== Selected works == * ''{{nihongo3|Waiting for Good News|カフーを待ちわびて|Kafū o machiwabite}}'', Takarajimasha, 2006, {{isbn|9784796652124}} * ''{{nihongo3|Only a Moment|一分間だけ|Ippunkan dake}}'', Takarajimasha, 2007, {{isbn|9784796657747}} * ''{{nihongo|Runway Beat|ランウェイ・ビート|Ran'uei bīto}}'', Takarajimasha, 2010, {{isbn|9784796678346}} * ''{{nihongo3|Today is a Good Day|本日は、お日柄もよく|Honjitsu wa ohigara mo yoku}}'', Tokumashoten, 2010, {{isbn|9784198629854}} * ''{{nihongo3|Fantastic Girls|でーれーガールズ|Dērē gāruzu}}'', Shōdensha, 2011, {{isbn|9784396633714}} * ''{{nihongo3|Painting of Paradise|楽園のカンヴァス|Rakuen no kanvasu}}'', Shinchosha, 2012, {{isbn|9784103317517}} * ''{{nihongo3|Dinner Tables of Giverny|ジヴェルニーの食卓|Jiveruni no shokutaku}}'', Shueisha, 2013, {{isbn|9784087715057}} * ''{{nihongo3|Guernica Under Cover|暗幕のゲルニカ|Anmaku no Guernica}}'', Shinchosha, 2016, {{isbn|9784103317524}} * ''{{nihongo3|Master Leach|リーチ先生|Rīchi sensei}}'', Shueisha, 2016, {{isbn|9784087710113}} * ''{{nihongo|Sweet Home|スイート・ホーム|Suīto hōmu}}'', Popurasha, 2018, {{isbn|9784591156681}} * ''{{nihongo||美しき愚かものたちのタブロー|Utsukushii orokamonotachi no taburō}}'', Bungeishunjū, 2019
==References== {{reflist}}
{{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Harada, Maha}} Category:1962 births Category:Living people Category:21st-century Japanese novelists Category:21st-century Japanese women writers Category:Japanese women novelists Category:Writers from Tokyo Category:People from Kodaira, Tokyo Category:Kwansei Gakuin University alumni Category:Waseda University alumni