Naomi Hirahara (Japanese: 平原 直美, born 1962) is an American mystery writer and journalist. She edited the largest Japanese-American daily newspaper, Rafu Shimpo, for several years. She is currently a writer of both fiction and non-fiction works and the Edgar Award-winning Mas Arai mystery series.
After a brief job as an editorial assistant, Hirahara began working at the Rafu Shimpo newspaper in 1984, as a writer about the city of Los Angeles. Three years later, she began working at a boutique public relations firm to allow more time for creative writing and taking classes at the UCLA extension. After three years, she was asked to come back as an editor[2] at the Rafu Shimpo. She began writing nonfiction books in the 1990s.[1] In 1996, Hirahara quit her job, took a fellowship for creative writing[2] with the Milton Center at Newman University in Wichita, Kansas[4] and committed to working full-time as a creative writer.[2] In 2001, she published a non-fiction work, Green Makers: Japanese American Gardeners in Southern California and later that year published An American Son: The Story of George Aratani, Founder of Mikasa and Kenwood. In 2002, Distinguished Asian American Business Leaders was released.[4]
She sold her first fiction book, Summer of the Big Bachi, in 2003.[2] It received a positive review in the Chicago Tribune,[5] which later that year named it one of the "10 best mysteries and thrillers of 2004".[6]Publishers Weekly named it one of the "Best Books of 2004".[7] The book turned out to be the first of a series about an aging Japanese-American gardener, Mas Arai, a survivor of the atomic bomb, but the character was American-born. Though he has a college degree, racial prejudice prevents him from obtaining other work, and he becomes a gardener, mirroring Hirahara's father's experience. Mas Arai became the featured character in Gasa Gasa Girl, Snakeskin Shamishen, Blood Hina[8] and Strawberry Yellow.[9] (Strawberry Yellow takes place in Watsonville, California and at the Redman Hirahara Farmstead.) In 2007, the third book in her series, Snakeskin Shamishen won the Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America.[10] The following year, the series began being released in Japan.[8]
In 2014, Hirahara began a new series, though Mas Arai's story has at least two more chapters. The new series features a young bicycle policewoman, Ellie Rush, who is the central character in Hirahara's seventh novel, Murder on Bamboo Lane. While the Arai series focuses on California centered around the World War II generation, the Rush series is contemporary and expands on Hirahara's desire to speak from a woman's point of view. Her first book in which the main character was a woman was a juvenile fiction work, 1001 Cranes, published in 2008.[1] Her most recent book in the Ellie Rush series, Grave on Grand Avenue (2015) has received positive reviews,[11] and has been featured as a "Best Book" by Publishers Weekly.[12]
Awards and honors
Summer of the Big Bachi was named one of the "10 best mysteries and thrillers of 2004" by the Chicago Tribune,[6] as well as one of the "Best Books of 2004" by Publishers Weekly.[7]
In 2019, CrimeReads included Iced in Paradise in their list of the year's best traditional mystery novels.[13] Two years later, they included Clark and Division on their list of the year's best crime novels.[14]Amazon also included the novel on their list of the year's best Mysteries and Thrillers.[15]
Hirahara, Naomi (2000). Greenmakers = Japanese: グリーンメーカーズ: Japanese American gardeners in Southern California (in English and Japanese). Los Angeles, California: Southern California Gardeners' Federation. ISBN978-0-970-48160-3.
Hirahara Naomi and Illi Ferandez. We Are Here : 30 Inspiring Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders Who Have Shaped the United States. First ed. Running Press Kids 2022.[34]
^Roderick, Kevin (April 26, 2007). "Edgar for Naomi Hirahara". Los Angeles, California: LA Observed. Archived from the original on September 19, 2015. Retrieved September 6, 2015.
