Novelist. Born 1947 in Takasaki City, Gunma, Japan. Debut in 1967 with Ai no seikatsu [The life of love], which won the Gendai Shi Techo Award in 1968. Her novels include Kishibe no nai umi [Oceans without shores] (1974), Platonic Love (1979, Izumi Kyoka Literary Award), Bunsyō Kyōshitu [Writing class] (1985), Tama-ya (1987, Women’s Literature Award), Ren’ai taiheiki [The chronicle of love] (1995), Uwasa no musume [Rumored Girl] (2002), Piece of Cake and Twice Told Tales (2012), and others. Her essays include Eiga, yawarakai hada [Film, the soft skin] (1983), Yukyo Ippiki: mayoi neko azukatte masu [A vagabond: I have a stray cat] (1993), Tanosimi ha TV no kanata ni [Fun is beyond TV] (1994), Scrap Gallery: Kirinuki Manga Museum (2005), Mejiro Zatsuroku [Mejiro memoirs] 1-6 (2004–2016), Kanai Mieko Essay Collection [1964-2013] (4 volumes), Kasutoro no shiri [The Ass of Castro] (2017, Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Prize for Art Encouragement), “Sutā tanjō” [“A star is born”] (2018), Tanoshii kurashi no danpen [Fragments of a fun life] (2019), Shiro ka kuro ka, dochira ni shitemo tora gara deha nai: Tanoshii kurashi no danpen [White or black, either way it’s not a tiger pattern: fragments of a fun life] (2022) and many others.