MAHOKARU NUMATA was born in 1948 in Osaka, Japan. She went on to run her own construction consulting firm before making her literary debut in 2004 with the prize-winning novel If September Could Last Forever. In 2011, Numata’s career really took off when one of her books received glowing reviews and became a bestseller; and in 2012, Nan-Core won the Haruhiko Oyabu Award. Known for weaving strong threads of sex and violence into her stories, she is also recognized for her insightful explorations of such universal themes as love and hate, light and darkness, and the mysteries of human nature.