Mikito Chinen 知念 実希人

Mikito Chinen (1978–) was born in Okinawa Prefecture and graduated from the Jikei University School of Medicine in Tokyo. He is a practicing internist, and the son and grandson of physicians. Although he chose a career in medicine for the economic stability it offered, he never gave up on his youthful dream of becoming a published writer, and regularly submitted manuscripts to new writer contests, mainly in the mystery genre. He made his writerly debut in 2012 when his novel-length manuscript Tagatame no ha: Rezondētoru (The Blade for Whom? Raison d’être) won the Rose City Fukuyama New Writer Prize for Mysteries. He leaped into the limelight when his hospital thrillers Kamen byōtō (Hospital Ward: The Masked Bandit) and Jigen byōtō (Hospital Ward: Time Limit) became bestsellers. His 2013 novel Yasashii shinigami no kaikata (How to Keep a Pet Guardian of Death) subsequently became a hit as well and prompted publication of a sequel, Kuroneko no serenāde (Black Cat Serenade). His other titles include the detective story Anata no tame no yūkai (A Kidnapping for You). He has established himself as a writer of page-turners that are easy to read in spite of their highly complex plot twists and tricks.