FAQ in the interviews
Q. How did you come up with this pen name, Banana?
A. Just because I love banana flowers.
Q. What made you decide to become a writer? When did you decide?
A. My elder sister was so good in drawing. Her creativity inspired me to find something of my own to do. So I started to write when I was about 5 years old.
Q. Is there any particular reason why there are often deaths described in your novels?
A. Death attracts me the most as a big motif for a writer to investigate for life.
Q. Why do you describe supernatural power such as premonitory dreams? Have you experienced such power yourself?
A. I don't have any experience myself, but there are many people around me who have that kind of power. So, I take it rather natunrally. The overall mysteries of this world are one of the themes of my work. So, I take to it rather naturally....
Q. Who are your favourite writers?
A. Burroughs, Isaac Singer and Capote.
Q. How did your father influence you?
A. I learned the way of working from him. And also the attitudes toward work and people.
Q. Are you good at cooking?
A. I think so. I cook simple dishes almost everyday.
Q. Do you have the problem of discrimination of women in today's society in your mind when you are writing?
A. I don't in my work...though I feel some discrimination occasionally in real life. You may sense it in my books as a result.
Q. Do you have any pets?
A. Yes, two dogs, two cats and two turtles.
Q. What kind of books do you wish to write? Do you have any objective for the future?
A. I would like to deepen what I write now. And I want to write in the more easy-to-read style.
FAQ on this site
Q. You must have travelled to many places already. Where did you like it best? And where would you like to visit in the future?
A. I really loved Sicily. In the future I would like to see the ruins and the desert of Mexico. I also would like to travel all around Hawaiian Islands.
Q. What are your favourite movies?
A. Dario Argento is my favourite director. "Les Enfants du Paradis" and "Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte" are two of the movies I saw recently and liked very much.
Q. What kind of music do you like? Who are your favourite musicians?
A. I like all sorts of music depending on my mood. My favourites are Prefab Sprout and Masumi Hara, needles to say! I love John Frusciante, too. I feel as if he were related to me.
Q. Who are your favourite carttonists? And what are your favourite cartoons?
A. I adore Yumiko Oshima and Gataro-Man in particular. My favourite cartoons are too many to count. I also love and respect Hiroshi Masumura and Fujio F Fujiko.
Q. What are your favourite foods?
A. Fruits, especially mango.
Q. When did you get married? Why did you decide to marry your husband?
A. We were married in August 2000. We only had the wedding ceremony. I married him because I thought that I could get on well with him......
Q. I am so depressed right now. How do you manage to overcome the depression?
A. I go on a trip to change my mind or just sleep a lot and have a good rest.
Q. I am seeing a married man. What is your opinion about extramarital relationship?
A. I have never had such a relationship so far and I don't think I will have interests in having one. I just think that kind of thing could happen. So I won't deny it. It's not just a matter of two people, it will involve many people around them. And the situation is different case by case. That's why I don't think I can comment on this easily.
Q. I heard that you have tatoos. What kind of design are the? And on what part of your body?
A. I have one of banana on my right thigh and another one of Obake-no-Q-Taro on my left shoulder.
Q. What is your favourite season? And why?
A. Summer. Because I love the sea.
Q. What is your favourite colour? And what's the reason?
A. Orange. Because it makes me feel energetic for some reason.
Q. Tell us about the most impressive scenery that you have seen in your life so far?
A. The colour of the sky and the streets at dusk in Sicily. And the ocean view that I saw from the ropeway terminal station in Capri.
Q. Do you have any place that you would like to move in the future? Tell us some good and bad points about living in Tokyo.
A. Okinawa attracts me a bit...and maybe Hawaii, too. In any case the move won't happen very soon, though. In Tokyo people are kind, I think. And you can be nobody here. These are the good points. Also, you can get to see any kinds of films, music and books here and you can choose whatever you like. The bad point is that it's so big that it takes time to get around. And this crazy traffic jam! Plus, the air is bad here.
Q. How did you spend your school days?
A. I didn't do much sports, just stayed up until late, writing novels. As a result I was dozing in class every day. In addition to that, booze came into my life at university. It's almost like I went to university to learn how to drink. Still I have no regrets about those days...though I wish I had studied a bit harder then.
Q. What kind of study did you do to write a novel? Did you ever have any anxiety to choose a novelist as your profession?
A. I didn't do any study, I just kept writing assiduously. I didn't have any anxiety at all.
Q. What kind of mother would you like to be?
A. The one who never yokes her child. That's the only thing I have in mind.
Oh, and it would be nice if my child will realize in his adulthood that he was loved and supported, only when he comes to think of it by chance.
Q. I saw the covers of your books published overseas on this website. Some of them are unbelievable! How come did you choose such terrible covers for your books?
A. Previously the right for the cover was not included in our contracts. Now we make sure to have an article for this matter. Still, you can't help the difference in senses and images from country to country.
Q. Many depressive things are happening today. How do you think we should live at this time?
A. The only thing that we should have in mind is not to use our time to fear. And we should prepare some specific countermeasures to some extent. There is nobody who has no fear about the future. Thus we should do what we can do now, instead of just worrying about the future in vain. That's what I truly think. One other thing we should do is to look for some friends with similar sensitivity.
Q. Do you have any motto for life or what you keep in mind in everyday life?
A. I tend to be impatient all the time, so I try to remain cool and relaxed.