Saeko Himuro Explained

Saeko Himuro 氷室 冴子
Birth Date:	January 11, 1957
Birth Place:	Iwamizawa, Hokkaidō
Occupation:	Novelist, essayist
Genre:	Romance, coming of age
Notableworks:	I Can Hear the Sea

was a Japanese novelist, essayist, and playwright born in Iwamizawa, Hokkaidō Prefecture, Japan. During the 1980s and 1990s, she was one of the most popular authors released under Shueisha's Cobalt Bunko imprint. She is best known outside Japan for I Can Hear the Sea, later a Studio Ghibli movie. The cause of her death was determined as lung cancer.^[1]

Works

Novels

All titles published by Shueisha Cobalt imprint unless otherwise noted.

1970s

• (1978)
• (1979)

1980s

• (1980)
• (1980)
• (1981)
• (1981)
• (1981)
• (1982)
• (1983)

The Change! is a four-volume adaptation of Torikaebaya monogatari, a Heian-era tale.

• (1983)
• (1983)
• (1984)
• (1984)
• (1984)
• (1984)
• (1985)
• (1985)
• (1985)
• (1986)
• (1986)
• (1988)
• (1988)
• (1988)
• (1989)
• (1989)
• (1989, Kadokawa Shoten)
• (1989, Kadokawa Shoten)

1990s

• (1990)
• (1990)
• (1991)
• (1991)
• (1991, Shinchosha Nochi Bunko)
• (1991, Shueisha Nochi Bunko)
• vol.1-11 (1992–1996)
• (1993)
• (1993)
• (1995)

Essays

• (1987, Shueisha, Nochi Bunko)
• (1989, Kadokawa Shoten, Nochi Bunko)
• (1990, Kadokawa Shoten, Nochi Bunko)
• (1990, Shueisha Cobalt)
• (1990, Kadokawa Shoten)
• (1992, Chikuma Shobō, Nochi Bunko)
• (1993, Shueisha, Nochi Bunko)
• (1995, Shueisha, Nochi Bunko)

Translation

• Ochikubo Monogatari (1993, Kodansha)

Collaboration

• Boku ga Suki na Hito e (1993, with Katsuya Kondō, based on I Can Hear the Sea)

Play

• Searching for Lady Anne

Works made into television dramas

• Nante Suteki ni Japanesque (1986, starring Yasuko Tomita)
• I Can Hear the Sea II: Because There Is Love (1995, starring Shinji Takeda and Hitomi Satō)

Work made into radio drama

• Nante Suteki ni Japanesque (NHK-FM, starring Satomi Kobayashi)

Works made into films

• Clara Hakusho (1985, starring Shōjotai)
• Koisuru Onnatachi (1986, starring Yuki Saito)

Work made into anime

• I Can Hear the Sea (1993, made by Studio Ghibli)

Manga

These manga were either written by Himuro or the original story idea was created by her.

• (Shogakukan, drawn by Yumi Kagawa)
• (Shogakukan, drawn by Kazuko Fujita)
• (Shueisha, drawn by Hiromi Tanigawa)

Works made into manga

• Clara Hakusho (Shogakukan, Noa Misaki)
• Agnes Hakusho (Shogakukan, Noa Misaki)
• Nante Suteki ni Japanesque (Hakusensha, Naomi Yamauchi)
• Zakkyo Jidai (Hakusensha, Naomi Yamauchi)
• Warabigaoka Monogatari (Hakusensha, Naomi Yamauchi)
• The Change! (Hakusensha, Naomi Yamauchi)
• Shōjo Shōsetsu Ie wa Shinanai! (Hakusensha, Miyuki Nishizawa)
• Koisuru Onnatachi (Shueisha, Miyoko Nanbu)

Work made into picture book

• Cinderella Mystery (Tokuma Shoten, artist: Mutsumi Inomata)

Works made into plays

• Searching for Lady Anne
  • OSK Nippon Kagekidan produced this play in 1996. Michiru Kō starred in the debut performance at the Kintetsu Theatre.
  • Ralph Becker: Michiru Kō
  • Lady Anne: Mebae Kojō
• The Change!
  • Theatre Echo produced this play from 2000-11-12 to 2000-11-21 at the Shinjuku Minamiguchi Kinokuniya Southern Theatre.
    • Produced by Haruhiko Jō
    • Script by Michihiro Ōtani
  • The female musical theater group Gekidan Star of Dreams production ran during September 2005 to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the Morinomiya Planet Station.
    • Produced by Kaori Ōra
• Cinderella Mystery
  • Produced by Theatre Company Caramelbox in 1994 at the Tokyo Geijutsu Geijō Little Hall and Shinbashi Yakult Hall.
  • Produced by Ryūnosuke Kuse
  • Script by Yutaka Narui

Notes and References

1. Web site: Ocean Waves Novelist Saeko Himuro Passes Away. 2008-06-06. Anime News Network. 2008-06-08.