Hotate Shinkawa

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Hotate Shinkawa
Native name
新川 帆立
Born1990 or 1991 (age 33–34)
Dallas, Texas, USA
Occupation
  • Writer
  • lawyer
NationalityJapanese
Alma materUniversity of Tokyo
GenreMystery fiction
Notable works
  • My Ex-Boyfriend's Last Will and Testament
  • Guardian of the Market

Hotate Shinkawa (新川 帆立, Shinkawa Hotate, born 1990 or 1991) is a Japanese writer, lawyer, and former professional mahjong player. Her first mystery novel, My Ex-Boyfriend's Last Will and Testament, won the This Mystery is Amazing! Grand Prize and was adapted for television by Fuji TV. Her followup novel, Guardian of the Market, was also adapted for television.

Early life and education[edit]

Shinkawa was born in the United States in Dallas, Texas, but her family moved back to Japan when she was 6 months old.[1] She spent her childhood in Miyazaki, then moved to Tsuchiura in Ibaraki Prefecture, where she attended high school.[2] In high school she took up the game of Go, eventually participating in Japan's national high school Go tournament.[3] As a high school student, Shinkawa had aspirations to become a novelist, but decided to pursue a stable professional career until she could write for a living.[4]

Originally Shinkawa was on the path to becoming a physician, but after passing the science entrance exam at the University of Tokyo on the second try, she changed her focus and transferred to the literature track, where she became interested in studying law after taking a particularly interesting seminar course.[4] While working a part-time job at a mahjong parlor as an undergraduate at the University of Tokyo, Shinkawa became interested in the game and developed her skill enough to become a professional player.[4] She continued her professional mahjong career while attending law school at the University of Tokyo, and during her first legal internship.[2] She passed the bar exam at the age of 24.[5]

Career[edit]

Shinkawa worked as an attorney at a law firm after graduating, but drove herself to exhaustion and collapse through excessive overtime.[1] She quit her law firm job at the age of 26, switched to a corporate job doing legal work, and took a novel-writing class.[6] Driven by frustrations about gender inequalities experienced in the legal workplace, she wrote My Boyfriend's Last Will and Testament, a story about a woman lawyer in her late 20s named Reiko Kenmochi whose boyfriend dies and leaves a will specifying that his murderer should inherit his estate.[1] She based the main character on herself, drawing on details from her own workplace, and wrote the book in about three weeks.[6]

My Boyfriend's Last Will and Testament won the 2020 This Mystery is Amazing! Grand Prize, which is a juried competitive award for mystery novels that comes with a ¥12,000,000 monetary award.[7] The book sold over 180,000 copies in the first month of release.[5] In a review for the Asahi Shimbun, the critic Abe Kashou noted that while the solution of the mystery depended on specialist legal knowledge, the story's narrative elements had universal appeal.[8] Writing for Da Vinci, reviewer Minami Asatō wrote that the "money-loving" Reiko was an "intense" main character, and that the story was one of the most exciting she had read in a long time.[9]

Shinkawa's followup novel Guardian of the Market, a story about a Fair Trade Commission investigator looking into price collusion in the wedding industry, was published in 2022 by Kodansha.[10] That same year, both My Ex-Boyfriend's Last Will and Testament and Guardian of the Market were adapted for television. My Ex-Boyfriend's Last Will and Testament was adapted into a Fuji TV series of the same name, starring Haruka Ayase as Reiko Kenmochi, that aired in spring 2022.[6] Guardian of the Market was adapted into a Fuji TV series of the same name, starring Kentaro Sakaguchi and Anne Watanabe, that aired in fall 2022.[11]

Personal life[edit]

Shinkawa has a long-term domestic partner, but has not officially registered the marriage because it would legally require changing her name, which she opposes.[1]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d Denyer, Simon; Inuma, Julia Mio (March 23, 2021). "She faced toxic male bonding and crippling work hours. Her debut novel challenges Japanese men". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on December 6, 2022. Retrieved November 9, 2022.
  2. ^ a b "プロ雀士、弁護士経てデビュー　「このミス」大賞の作家・新川帆立さん" [This Mystery is Amazing! Grand Prize winner Hotate Shinkawa makes her literary debut while working as a professional Mahjong player and lawyer]. Mainichi Shimbun (in Japanese). February 9, 2021. Archived from the original on February 9, 2021. Retrieved November 9, 2022.
  3. ^ "「何がしたい」を基軸に　作家の新川帆立さん" [Working from a foundation of "What is it you want to do?", author Hotate Shinkawa]. The Nikkei (in Japanese). December 20, 2021. Archived from the original on November 10, 2022. Retrieved November 9, 2022.
  4. ^ a b c 新川, 帆立 (October 17, 2021). "理III受験・文I進学・プロ雀士・弁護士経て小説家に　新川帆立さんインタビュー" [Interview with Hotate Shinkawa, a professional mahjong player, lawyer, and novelist who took the Science III exam but moved on to Literature I]. Tōdai Shinbun (Interview) (in Japanese). Interviewed by 弓矢基貴. Retrieved November 9, 2022.
  5. ^ a b ""異色の経歴"小説家・新川帆立に初密着 東大卒、元プロ雀士、現役弁護士…7つのルールとは" [The "unique career" of University of Tokyo graduate, professional mahjong player, active lawyer, and novelist Hotate Shinkawa: What are her 7 rules?]. Oricon News (in Japanese). February 23, 2021. Archived from the original on November 10, 2022. Retrieved November 9, 2022.
  6. ^ a b c "綾瀬はるか："月9"初主演で初の弁護士役　「このミス」大賞作「元彼の遺言状」実写化で" [First starring role in a Monday 9pm drama and first role as a lawyer, in the live action adaptation of This Mystery is Amazing! Grand Prize winner My Ex-Boyfriend's Last Will and Testament]. Mantan Web (in Japanese). January 17, 2022. Archived from the original on November 10, 2022. Retrieved November 9, 2022.
  7. ^ "「このミステリーがすごい！」大賞　新川さん（宮大付属中卒）" [This Mystery is Amazing! Grand Prize winner Hotate Shinkawa, a graduate of Miyazaki University Education Department Junior High School]. Miyazaki Nichinichi Shinbun (in Japanese). October 2, 2020. Archived from the original on November 10, 2022. Retrieved November 9, 2022.
  8. ^ "新川帆立「元彼の遺言状」　強烈なキャラに灯る人間味" [Hotate Shinkawa's "My Ex-Boyfriend's Last Will and Testament": Human kindness shines through strong character]. Asahi Shimbun (in Japanese). March 23, 2021. Archived from the original on November 10, 2022. Retrieved November 9, 2022.
  9. ^ Asatō, Minami (September 2, 2022). "奇妙な遺言状と金好き女性弁護士…前代未聞の遺産相続ミステリー！" [A strange last will and testament, and a money loving woman lawyer...an unprecedented inheritance mystery!]. Da Vinci (in Japanese). Archived from the original on May 9, 2021. Retrieved November 9, 2022.
  10. ^ 新川, 帆立 (May 18, 2022). "２クール連続「月９」の原作者・新川帆立さん" [Hotate Shinkawa, writer of the original works for 2 consecutive Monday 9pm drama adaptations]. Asahi Shimbun (Interview) (in Japanese). Interviewed by 横山由希路. Retrieved November 9, 2022.
  11. ^ "競争の番人" [Guardian of the Market]. Fuji TV. Archived from the original on July 6, 2022. Retrieved November 9, 2022.
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