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Sayaka Murata

{{short description|Japanese writer (born 1979)}}

{{Infobox writer

| name = Sayaka Murata

| native_name = 村田沙耶香

| image = Sayaka Murata DSC05864 (cropped).jpg

| caption = Murata at the LiteratureXchange Festival in Aarhus, Denmark, in 2022

| native_name_lang = ja

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1979|08|14}}

| language = Japanese

| genre = Fiction

| alma_mater = Tamagawa University

| notableworks = {{plainlist|

}}

| awards = {{plainlist|

}}

Sayaka Murata (村田沙耶香 Murata Sayaka; born August 14, 1979) is a Japanese writer. She has won the Gunzo Prize for New Writers, the Mishima Yukio Prize, the Noma Literary New Face Prize, and the Akutagawa Prize.

Biography

Murata was born in Inzai, Chiba Prefecture, Japan, in 1979. Her father was a judge, her mother a housewife. Murata has said she did not have a happy childhood. She started writing stories at age 10.{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/apr/19/marriage-feels-like-a-hostage-situation-and-motherhood-a-curse-japanese-author-sayaka-murata |title=Interview: 'Marriage feels like a hostage situation and motherhood a curse': Japanese author Sayaka Murata |last=Allardice |first=Lisa |newspaper=The Guardian |date=19 April 2025 |access-date=19 April 2025}} As a child, she often read science fiction and mystery novels borrowed from her brother and mother, and her mother bought her a word processor after she attempted to write a novel by hand in the fourth grade of elementary school.{{Cite news |date=August 20, 2017 |title=村田沙耶香インタビュー「バイトは週3日、週末はダメ人間です」 |language=ja |work=Bungeishunjū |url=http://bunshun.jp/articles/-/3687 |access-date=June 14, 2018 |archive-date=June 15, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180615004753/http://bunshun.jp/articles/-/3687 |url-status=live }} After Murata completed middle school in Inzai, her family moved to Tokyo, where she graduated from Kashiwa High School (attached to Nishogakusha University) and studied art curation at Tamagawa University.{{Cite news |date=July 21, 2016 |title=印西出身の村田沙耶香さん 入学時文集「いつか理想の自分に」 二松学舎大学付属柏高、母校も喜びに沸く ／千葉 |language=ja |work=Mainichi |url=http://mainichi.jp/articles/20160721/ddl/k12/040/584000c |access-date=June 14, 2018 |archive-date=May 13, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190513102742/https://mainichi.jp/articles/20160721/ddl/k12/040/584000c |url-status=dead }} File:Kashiwa Junior & Senior High School Attached to Nishogakusha University.JPG

Her first novel, Jyunyū (Breastfeeding), won the 2003 Gunzo Prize for New Writers.{{Cite web |title=Gunzo Awards |url=http://gunzo.kodansha.co.jp/awards |access-date=June 14, 2018 |website=Gunzo |language=ja |archive-date=May 13, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190513102735/http://gunzo.kodansha.co.jp/awards |url-status=live }} In 2013 she won the Mishima Yukio Prize for Shiro-iro no machi no, sono hone no taion no (Of Bones, Of Body Heat, Of Whitening City), and in 2014 the Special Prize of the Sense of Gender Award.{{Cite journal |last=Specchio |first=Anna |date=July 5, 2018 |title=Eutopizing the Dystopia. Gender Roles, Motherhood and Reproduction in Murata Sayaka's "Satsujin Shussan" |journal=Metacritic Journal for Comparative Studies and Theory |volume=4 |issue=1 |pages=94–108 |doi=10.24193/mjcst.2018.5.06 |issn=2457-8827 |doi-access=free}}{{Cite web |title=| 新潮社 |url=https://www.shinchosha.co.jp/prizes/mishimasho/ |website=新潮社コーポレートサイト |access-date=2024-01-29 |archive-date=2022-10-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221023063201/https://www.shinchosha.co.jp/prizes/mishimasho/ |url-status=live }} In 2016 her 10th novel, Konbini ningen (Convenience Store Woman), won the prestigious Akutagawa Prize,{{Cite news |last=Kikuchi |first=Daisuke |date=July 20, 2016 |title=Convenience store worker who moonlights as an author wins prestigious Akutagawa Prize |work=The Japan Times |url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/07/20/national/convenience-store-worker-who-moonlights-as-novelist-wins-prestigious-akutagawa-prize/ |access-date=April 8, 2018 |archive-date=January 8, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190108040507/https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/07/20/national/convenience-store-worker-who-moonlights-as-novelist-wins-prestigious-akutagawa-prize/ |url-status=live }} and she was named one of Vogue Japan's Women of the Year.{{Cite news |date=Nov 24, 2016 |title=高畑充希、飛躍の一年を回顧「台風の目にいるような感じ」 |work=Oricon News |url=https://www.oricon.co.jp/news/2081875/full/ |access-date=February 12, 2018 |archive-date=June 23, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190623063143/https://www.oricon.co.jp/news/2081875/full/ |url-status=live }} Konbini ningen has sold over 1.5 million copies in Japan{{Cite web |last=Tagholm |first=Roger |date=January 31, 2019 |title=Granta buys new Sayaka Murata novel |url=https://www.thebookseller.com/news/granta-buys-new-murata-novel-942086 |access-date=February 17, 2021 |publisher=thebookseller.com |archive-date=January 17, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220117012551/https://www.thebookseller.com/news/granta-buys-new-murata-novel-942086 |url-status=live }} and in 2018 it became her first book to be translated into English, under the title Convenience Store Woman.{{Cite web |last=Freeman |first=John |date=November 16, 2017 |title=In Praise of Sayaka Murata |url=https://lithub.com/in-praise-of-sayaka-murata/ |access-date=February 17, 2021 |website=Literary Hub |archive-date=March 29, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230329031142/https://lithub.com/in-praise-of-sayaka-murata/ |url-status=live }} It has been translated into more than 30 languages.

Murata worked part-time as a convenience store clerk in Tokyo for eighteen years until 2017.{{Cite news |last=Rich |first=Motoko |date=June 11, 2018 |title=For Japanese Novelist Sayaka Murata, Odd Is the New Normal |work=New York Times |type=subscription required |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/11/books/japanese-novelist-sayaka-murata-convenience-store-woman.html |url-access=subscription |access-date=November 22, 2021 |archive-date=May 23, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230523135901/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/11/books/japanese-novelist-sayaka-murata-convenience-store-woman.html |url-status=live }} She has lived in Shinjuku, Tokyo since she was a student.

Writing style

Murata's writing explores the different consequences of nonconformity in society for men and women, particularly with regard to gender roles, parenthood, and sex.{{Cite news |last=Rich |first=Motoko |date=June 11, 2018 |title=For Japanese Novelist Sayaka Murata, Odd Is the New Normal |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/11/books/japanese-novelist-sayaka-murata-convenience-store-woman.html |access-date=June 14, 2018 |archive-date=May 23, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230523135901/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/11/books/japanese-novelist-sayaka-murata-convenience-store-woman.html |url-status=live }} Many of the themes and character backstories in her writing come from her daily observations as a part-time convenience store worker. Societal acceptance of sexlessness in various forms, including asexuality, voluntary and involuntary celibacy, especially within marriage, recurs as a theme in several of her works, such as the novels Shōmetsu sekai (Dwindling World) and Konbini ningen (Convenience Store Woman), and the short story "A Clean Marriage."{{Cite web |last=Fallon |first=Claire |date=June 12, 2018 |title=Amid All The Talk Of Incels, A Solitary Woman's Story |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/convenience-store-woman_us_5b198ae5e4b0adfb8267207e |access-date=June 13, 2018 |website=HuffPost |archive-date=June 13, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180613164251/https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/convenience-store-woman_us_5b198ae5e4b0adfb8267207e |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |last=Tapley Takamori |first=Ginny |date=April 24, 2014 |title=Translator's Note: A Clean Marriage |url=https://granta.com/a-clean-marriage/ |access-date=June 14, 2018 |website=Granta |archive-date=July 25, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160725203709/http://granta.com/a-clean-marriage/ |url-status=live }} Murata is also known for her frank depictions of adolescent sexuality in work such as Gin iro no uta (Silver Song){{Cite web |title=Silver Song |url=http://www.booksfromjapan.jp/publications/item/899-silver-song |access-date=June 14, 2018 |website=Books from Japan |archive-date=June 15, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180615111119/http://www.booksfromjapan.jp/publications/item/899-silver-song |url-status=live }} and Shiro-iro no machi no, sono hone no taion no (Of Bones, of Body Heat, of Whitening City).{{Cite web |title=Of Bones, of Body Heat, of Whitening City |url=http://www.booksfromjapan.jp/publications/item/2078-of-bones-of-body-heat-of-whitening-city |access-date=June 14, 2018 |website=Books from Japan |archive-date=June 15, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180615111120/http://www.booksfromjapan.jp/publications/item/2078-of-bones-of-body-heat-of-whitening-city |url-status=live }} In Satsujin shussan, she depicts a future society which may be seen as dystopic for the use of Reproduction Technologies and the strange system called Birth-Murder System.

Themes

= Challenging taboos =

Murata often places challenging taboos at the forefront of her most popular works.{{Cite web |date=2020-11-04 |title=Aliens and Alienation: The Taboo-Challenging Worlds of "Earthlings" Author Murata Sayaka |url=https://www.nippon.com/en/japan-topics/e00175/ |access-date=2021-12-05 |website=nippon.com |language=en |archive-date=2021-12-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211205073715/https://www.nippon.com/en/japan-topics/e00175/ |url-status=live }} The title Earthlings focuses on an 11-year-old girl named Natsuki, with her boyfriend and cousin, Yuu, who believe themselves to be aliens due to their tumultuous relationship with their family. The story quickly develops into a harsh tale containing themes of "sexual abuse, murder, and cannibalism." Murata states on challenging taboos: "For example, murder is said to be taboo, but then why is it considered acceptable if it’s legitimate self-defense or capital punishment? I sensed the ambiguity in my childish mind. And I felt a physical repulsion and fear inside me toward incest and cannibalism, although I didn’t know why they were forbidden. I wondered where those emotions came from.” Murata believes that the more she writes about the questioning of these taboos, the closer she will come to the "real truth of things."

= Conformity =

The topic of conformity is common in Japanese literature and culture, and Murata frequently questions its validity, especially in Convenience Store Woman.{{Cite web |date=2018-06-11 |title="Convenience Store Woman": Life by the Book |url=https://www.nippon.com/en/guide-to-japan/bg900003/ |access-date=2021-12-05 |website=nippon.com |language=en |archive-date=2021-12-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211205073714/https://www.nippon.com/en/guide-to-japan/bg900003/ |url-status=live }} Conformity is often placed at the heart of Japanese culture, a notion that Murata frequently explores within her works. In this work, Keiko, the main heroine, finds herself trying to escape from reality's expectations of marrying and choosing a traditional career.{{Cite magazine |date=2018-06-21 |title=Sayaka Murata's Eerie "Convenience Store Woman" Is a Love Story Between a Misfit and a Store |url=https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/sayaka-murata-eerie-convenience-store-woman-is-a-love-story-between-a-misfit-and-a-store |access-date=2021-12-05 |magazine=The New Yorker |language=en-US |archive-date=2024-01-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240129141657/https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/sayaka-murata-eerie-convenience-store-woman-is-a-love-story-between-a-misfit-and-a-store |url-status=live }} Keiko eventually finds that her convenience store job is her only way to feel in touch with society, a "normal cog in society."

= Asexuality =

Many of Murata's main heroines find themselves in asexual relationships, such as Natsuki in Earthling and Keiko in Convenience Store Woman.{{Cite web |last=Hayes |first=Stephanie |date=2020-11-09 |title=A Dystopian Novel That Challenges Taboos and Refuses Judgment |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2020/11/sayaka-murata-earthlings-gruesome-dystopia/617007/ |access-date=2021-12-05 |website=The Atlantic |language=en |archive-date=2021-12-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211205073714/https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2020/11/sayaka-murata-earthlings-gruesome-dystopia/617007/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |last=Garner |first=Dwight |date=2018-07-23 |title='Convenience Store Woman' Casts a Fluorescent Spell |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/23/books/review-convenience-store-woman-sayaka-murata.html |access-date=2021-12-05 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=2021-12-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211205073714/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/23/books/review-convenience-store-woman-sayaka-murata.html |url-status=live }} Asexuality is a theme that coincides with questioning the standards society typically expects from citizens, a notion that Murata explores frequently.

= Global warming and climate change =

Murata published a short story within the anthology titled Tales of Two Planets: Stories of Climate Change detailing a dystopian Japanese society built upon ranks given to humans based upon the likelihood that they survive until they're 65 with anyone falling below a specific rank becoming "feral."{{Cite web |title=A Trip Through a Wounded Landscape: On John Freeman's "Tales of Two Planets" |url=https://www.clereviewofbooks.com/home/2020/10/21/a-trip-through-a-wounded-landscape-on-john-freemans-tales-of-two-planets |access-date=2021-12-05 |website=Cleveland Review of Books |language=en-US |archive-date=2021-12-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211205073715/https://www.clereviewofbooks.com/home/2020/10/21/a-trip-through-a-wounded-landscape-on-john-freemans-tales-of-two-planets |url-status=live }} The short story titled Survival detailed the accounts of the world if global warming was left unattended, with torrential rain showers becoming commonplace and the remaining animals of the world only including humans, cockroaches, and cats. The increased likelihood of precipitation is supported heavily as well as the likelihood of cockroaches remaining as the Earth's only surviving species if climate change was left unaddressed.{{Cite journal |last=Witze |first=Alexandra |date=2018-11-20 |title=Why extreme rains are gaining strength as the climate warms |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-07447-1 |journal=Nature |language=en |volume=563 |issue=7732 |pages=458–460 |doi=10.1038/d41586-018-07447-1 |pmid=30459384 |bibcode=2018Natur.563..458W |s2cid=53722768 |access-date=2024-01-29 |archive-date=2023-08-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230827155224/https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-07447-1 |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |last=Ro |first=Christine |title=The animals that will survive climate change |url=https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20190730-the-animals-that-will-survive-climate-change |access-date=2021-12-05 |website=www.bbc.com |language=en |archive-date=2021-12-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211205073714/https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20190730-the-animals-that-will-survive-climate-change |url-status=live }}

Recognition

class="wikitable"

|+

!Year

!Prize

!Work

!Notes

2003

|Gunzo Prize for New Writers

| "Junyū"

|{{Won}}

2009

|Mishima Yukio Prize

| rowspan="2" | Gin'iro no Uta

|{{Nominated}}

2009

|Noma Literary New Face Prize{{Cite web |title=過去の受賞作品 |url=http://www.kodansha.co.jp/award/noma_n/51260.html |access-date=June 21, 2018 |website=Kodansha |language=ja |archive-date=May 13, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190513102754/https://www.kodansha.co.jp/award/noma_n/51260.html |url-status=dead }}

|{{Won}}

2010

|Mishima Yukio Prize

|Hoshi ga Sū Mizu

|{{Nominated}}

2012

|Mishima Yukio Prize

|Tadaima Tobira

|{{Nominated}}

2013

|Mishima Yukio Prize

|Shiroiro no Machi no, Sono Hone no Taion no

|{{Won}}

2014

|Sense of Gender Awards{{Cite web |date=August 29, 2015 |title=2014年度 第14回Sense of Gender賞 |url=http://gender-sf.org/sog/2014/ |access-date=June 21, 2018 |website=The Japanese Association for Gender Fantasy and Science Fiction |language=ja |archive-date=June 22, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180622083755/http://gender-sf.org/sog/2014/ |url-status=live }}

|Satsujin Shussan

|{{Won}}

2016

|Akutagawa Prize

|Convenience Store Woman

|{{Won}}

Bibliography

=Short story collections=

class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="width: 100%;"

|+ Short story collections by Sayaka Murata

scope="col" style="width:10%;" | Title

! scope="col" style="width:3%;" | Year

! scope="col" style="width:10%;" | Original ISBN

! scope="col" style="width:10%;" | Original publisher

! scope="col" style="width:34%;" | Stories

! scope="col" style="width:33%;" | Notes

style="text-align: center;"

! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | {{nihongo|Junyū|授乳

"Breastfeeding"}}

| 2005

| {{isbnt|9784062127943}}

| Kodansha

|

  • {{nihongo|"Junyū"|授乳
"Breastfeeding"}}
  • {{nihongo|"Koibito"|コイビト
    		• "Sweetheart"}}
  • {{nihongo|"Otogi no Heya"|御伽の部屋
    		• "The Fairytale Room"}}

    |

    style="text-align: center;"

    ! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | {{nihongo|Gin'iro no Uta|ギンイロノウタ

    		"Silver Song"}}

    | 2009

    | {{isbnt|9784103100713}}

    | Shinchosha

    |

    • {{nihongo|"Hikari no Ashioto"|ひかりのあしおと
    		"Footsteps of Light"}}
  • {{nihongo|"Gin'iro no Uta"|ギンイロノウタ
    		• "Silver Song"}}

    |

    style="text-align: center;"

    ! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | {{nihongo|Hoshi ga Sū Mizu|星が吸う水

    		"Water for the Stars"}}

    | 2010

    | {{isbnt|9784062160971}}

    | Kodansha

    |

    • {{nihongo|"Hoshi ga Sū Mizu"|星が吸う水
    		"Water for the Stars"}}
  • {{nihongo|"Gamazumi Kōkai"|ガマズミ航海
    		• "Linden Arrowwood Voyage"}}
    style="text-align: center;"

    ! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | {{nihongo|Satsujin Shussan|殺人出産

    		"The Murder Births"}}

    | 2014

    | {{isbnt|9784062190466}}

    | Kodansha

    |

    • {{nihongo|"Satsujin Shussan"|殺人出産
    		"The Murder Births"}}
  • {{nihongo|"Triple"|トリプル|Toripuru}}
  • {{nihongo|"A Clean Marriage"|清潔な結婚|Saiketsu na Kekkon}}
  • {{nihongo|"Final Days"|余命|Yomei}}

    • |

    • "A Clean Marriage" was published in English in Granta 127: Japan in 2014, translated by Ginny Tapley Takemori.{{Cite web |last=Murata |first=Sayaka |date=April 24, 2014 |title=A Clean Marriage |url=https://granta.com/a-clean-marriage/ |access-date=June 14, 2018 |website=Granta |archive-date=January 29, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240129141658/https://granta.com/a-clean-marriage/ |url-status=live }}
    • "Final Days" was published in English in Freeman's: Change in 2021, translated by Ginny Tapley Takemori.{{Cite book |date=October 12, 2021 |title=Freeman's: Change |url=https://groveatlantic.com/book/freemans-change/ |access-date=May 27, 2022 |website=Grove Atlantic |archive-date=May 27, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220527190504/https://groveatlantic.com/book/freemans-change/ |url-status=live }}
    style="text-align: center;"

    ! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | {{nihongo|Life Ceremony|生命式|Seimeishiki}}

    | 2019

    | {{isbnt|9784309028309}}

    | Kawade Shobo Shinsha

    |

    • {{nihongo|"A First-Rate Material"|素敵な素材|Suteki na Sozai}}
    • {{nihongo|"A Magnificent Spread"|素晴らしい食卓|Subarashī Shokutaku}}
    • {{nihongo|"A Summer Night's Kiss"|夏の夜の口付け|Natsu no Yoru no Kuchizuke}}
    • {{nihongo|"Two's Family"|二人家族|Futari Kazoku}}
    • {{nihongo|"The Time of the Large Star"|大きな星の時間|Ōki na Hoshi no Jikan}}
    • {{nihongo|"Poochie"|ポチ|Pochi}}
    • {{nihongo|"Life Ceremony"|生命式|Seimeishiki}}
    • {{nihongo|"Body Magic"|魔法のからだ|Mahō no Karada}}
    • {{nihongo|"Lover on the Breeze"|かぜのこいびと|Kaze no Koibito}}
    • {{nihongo|"Puzzle"|パズル|Pazuru}}
    • {{nihongo|"Eating the City"|街を食べる|Machi o Taberu}}
    • {{nihongo|"Hatchling"|孵化|Fuka}}

    |

    • The collection was published in English by Grove Atlantic in 2022 ({{ISBN|9780802159588}}), translated by Ginny Tapley Takemori.{{Cite book |title=Life Ceremony |url=https://groveatlantic.com/book/life-ceremony/ |access-date=May 27, 2022 |website=Grove Atlantic |archive-date=May 29, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230529041201/https://groveatlantic.com/book/life-ceremony/ |url-status=live }}
    • "A First-Rate Material" was published in English in Freeman's: The Future of New Writing in 2017, translated by Ginny Tapley Takemori.{{Cite web |date=October 10, 2017 |title=Freeman's: The Future of New Writing |url=https://www.freemansbiannual.com/copy-of-freeman-s-home |access-date=May 27, 2022 |website=Freeman's |archive-date=January 29, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240129141657/https://www.freemansbiannual.com/copy-of-freeman-s-home |url-status=usurped }}
    • "A Summer Night's Kiss" was published in English in Astra: Ecstasy in 2022, translated by Ginny Tapley Takemori.{{Cite book |last=Murata |first=Sayaka |date=April 12, 2022 |title=A Summer Night's Kiss |url=https://astra-mag.com/articles/a-summer-nights-kiss/ |access-date=May 27, 2022 |publisher=Astra House |type=Literary magazine |isbn=9781662619007 |archive-date=May 20, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220520071522/https://astra-mag.com/articles/a-summer-nights-kiss/ |url-status=live }}
    style="text-align: center;"

    ! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | {{nihongo|Marunouchi Mahō Shōjo Mirakurīna|丸の内魔法少女ミラクリーナ

    		"Mirakurīna the Marunouchi Magical Girl"}}

    | 2020

    | {{isbnt|9784041084236}}

    | Kadokawa

    |

    • {{nihongo|"Marunouchi Mahō Shōjo Mirakurīna"|丸の内魔法少女ミラクリーナ
    		"Mirakurīna the Marunouchi Magical Girl"}}
  • {{nihongo|"Himitsu no Hanazono"|秘密の花園
    		• "Secret Flower Garden"}}
  • {{nihongo|"Musei Kyōshitsu"|無性教室
    		• "Genderless Classroom"}}
  • {{nihongo|"Hen'yō"|変容
    		• "Transformation"}}

    |

    style="text-align: center;"

    ! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | {{nihongo|Faith|信仰|Shinkō}}

    | 2022

    | {{isbnt|9784163915500}}

    | Bungeishunjū

    |

    • {{nihongo|"Faith"|信仰|Shinkō}}
    • {{nihongo|"Survival"|生存|Seizon}}
    • {{nihongo|"Tsuchi no Shō Uruoi Okoru"|土脉潤起
    		"Rain Moistens the Soil"}}{{efn|The name of the first pentad in the usui solar term, corresponding to February 19–23}}
  • {{nihongo|"Karera no Wakusei e Kaette Iku Koto"|彼らの惑星へ帰っていくこと
    		• "Returning to Their Planet"}}
  • {{nihongo|"Culture Shock"|カルチャーショック|Karuchā Shokku}}
  • {{nihongo|"Kimochiyosa Toiu Tsumi"|気持ちよさという罪
    		• "The Sin of Feeling Good"}}
  • {{nihongo|"Kakanakatta Shōsetsu"|書かなかった小説
    		• "The Story That Wasn't Written"}}
  • {{nihongo|"Saigo no Tenrankai"|最後の展覧会
    		• "The Last Exhibition"}}

    |

    • "Faith" was published in English in Granta: The Online Edition in 2020, translated by Ginny Tapley Takemori.{{Cite web |last=Murata |first=Sayaka |date=November 18, 2020 |title=Faith |url=https://granta.com/faith-sayaka-murata/ |access-date=May 27, 2022 |website=Granta |archive-date=June 25, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220625225150/https://granta.com/faith-sayaka-murata/ |url-status=live }}
    • "Survival" was published in English in Tales of Two Planets in 2022 ({{ISBN|9780143133926}}), translated by Ginny Tapley Takemori.{{Cite web |title=Tales of Two Planets: 9780143133926 |url=https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/599674/tales-of-two-planets-by-edited-by-john-freeman/ |access-date=May 27, 2022 |website=Penguin Random House |archive-date=May 27, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220527190502/https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/599674/tales-of-two-planets-by-edited-by-john-freeman/ |url-status=live }}

    =Novels=

    class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="width: 100%;"

    |+ Novels by Sayaka Murata

    scope="col" style="width:10%;" | Title

    ! scope="col" style="width:3%;" | Year

    ! scope="col" style="width:10%;" | Original ISBN

    ! scope="col" style="width:10%;" | Original publisher

    ! scope="col" style="width:33%;" | Notes

    style="text-align: center;"

    ! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | {{nihongo|Mouse|マウス|Mausu}}

    | 2008

    | {{isbnt|9784062145893}}

    | Kodansha

    |

    style="text-align: center;"

    ! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | {{nihongo|Hakobune|ハコブネ

    		"Ark"}}

    | 2011

    | {{isbnt|9784087714289}}

    | Shueisha

    |

    style="text-align: center;"

    ! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | {{nihongo|Tadaima Tobira|タダイマトビラ

    		"A Welcoming Door"}}

    | 2012

    | {{isbnt|9784103100720}}

    | Shinchosha

    style="text-align: center;"

    ! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | {{nihongo|Shiroiro no Machi no, Sono Hone no Taion no|しろいろの街の、その骨の体温の

    		"Of Bones, of Body Heat, of Whitening City"}}

    | 2012

    | {{isbnt|9784022510112}}

    | Asahi Shimbun

    |

    style="text-align: center;"

    ! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | {{nihongo|Shōmetsu Sekai|消滅世界

    		"Dwindling World"}}

    | 2015

    | {{isbnt|9784309024325}}

    | Kawade Shobo Shinsha

    | Published in English as Vanishing World by Grove Atlantic in 2025 ({{ISBN|9780802164667}}), translated by Ginny Tapley Takemori.{{Cite book |url=https://groveatlantic.com/book/vanishing-world/ |title=Vanishing World |website=Grove Atlantic |trans-title= |access-date=November 24, 2024 }}

    style="text-align: center;"

    ! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | {{nihongo|Convenience Store Woman|コンビニ人間|Konbini Ningen}}

    | 2016

    | {{isbnt|9784163906188}}

    | Bungeishunjū

    | Published in English by Grove Atlantic in 2018 ({{ISBN|9780802128256}}), translated by Ginny Tapley Takemori.{{Cite book |title=Convenience Store Woman |url=https://groveatlantic.com/book/convenience-store-woman/ |access-date=June 6, 2018 |website=Grove Atlantic |archive-date=March 7, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220307061136/https://groveatlantic.com/book/convenience-store-woman/ |url-status=live }}

    style="text-align: center;"

    ! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | {{nihongo|Earthlings|地球星人|Chikyū Seijin}}

    | 2018

    | {{isbnt|9784103100737}}

    | Shinchosa

    | Published in English by Grove Atlantic in 2020 ({{ISBN|9780802157003}}), translated by Ginny Tapley Takemori.{{Cite book |title=Earthlings |url=https://groveatlantic.com/book/earthlings/ |access-date=March 10, 2021 |website=Grove Atlantic |archive-date=January 28, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230128003356/https://groveatlantic.com/book/earthlings/ |url-status=live }}

    style="text-align: center;"

    ! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | {{nihongo|Kawarimi|{{ruby-ja|変半身|かわりみ}}

    		"Changeability"}}

    | 2019

    | {{isbnt|9784480804914}}

    | Chikuma Shobō

    |

    = Other works=

    • "Chameleon" (photoessay with Tomoko Sawada), English translation by Ginny Tapley Takemori, Granta 144: Art & Photography, 2018.{{Cite web |date=2018-08-09 |title=Chameleon |url=https://granta.com/chameleon/ |access-date=2023-01-10 |website=Granta |language=en-US |archive-date=2022-12-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221203122722/https://granta.com/chameleon/ |url-status=live }}
    • "The Future of Sex Lives in All of Us" (article), English translation by Ginny Tapley Takemori, The New York Times, 2019.{{Cite web |last=Murata |first=Sayaka |date=December 2, 2019 |title=The Future of Sex Lives in All of Us |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/02/opinion/future-sex-society.html |website=The New York Times |access-date=January 29, 2024 |archive-date=November 16, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231116203837/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/02/opinion/future-sex-society.html |url-status=live }}

    Notes

    {{notelist}}

    References

    {{reflist|35em}}

    External links

    • {{twitter|sayakamurata|Sayaka Murata}}
    • {{instagram|sayaka_murata_|Sayaka Murata}}
    • {{ISFDB name|id=317664}}

    {{Akutagawa Prize winners}}

    {{authority control}}

    {{DEFAULTSORT:Murata, Sayaka}}

    Category:1979 births

    Category:Living people

    Category:People from Inzai

    Category:21st-century Japanese novelists

    Category:Akutagawa Prize winners

    Category:Japanese women novelists

    Category:21st-century Japanese women writers