Novala Takemoto

Novala Takemoto
Born (1968-01-26) January 26, 1968
Uji, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan
Occupation writer, fashion designer
Genre essays, novels, short stories

Novala Takemoto (嶽本 野ばら, Takemoto Nobara, born January 26, 1968) is a Japanese author and fashion designer. His real name is Toshiaki Takemoto (嶽本 稔明, Takemoto Toshiaki).[1] His pen name is translatable as "The Wild Rose."

Known as the "Lolitas' Bard", he is a heterosexual man self-described as having the charisma of a young maiden. He has been one of the most active promoters of the Lolita lifestyle. He once designed a line of clothing featuring his own logo for BABY, THE STARS SHINE BRIGHT and is consistently featured in the magazine Gothic & Lolita Bible. A few of his favorite things are Alice and the Pirates, Vivienne Westwood, MILK, rockinghorse shoes, Christian Dior perfume, robots, science fiction, taxidermy, dolls, and Philip Glass. He also has a fascination with the Rococo era, and sometimes claims to have been born in the year 1745.

Biography

Takemoto was born in Uji, south of Kyoto. As a child, he was shy and preferred drawing and reading (two of his favorite authors were Osamu Dazai and Yasunari Kawabata) to spending time with others, and was a big fan of the anime series Candy Candy, in the discovery of which he was "happy to finally find what [he] liked".[2] He was also sometimes beaten by his father, which he says persuaded him to follow his own path in life.[3] After dropping out of Osaka University of Arts in 1987, he participated in a variety of artistic, musical and theatrical activities. From 1992 to 1997 he made his literary debut contributing serial essays to Hanagata Bunka Tsūshin (花形文化通信), a Kansai free arts newspaper. These essays were collected and published in book format in 1998 as Soleilnuit: For Becoming a Proper Young Lady, and received wide recognition. These essays also increased the popularity of the Japanese term otome, referring to a young lady or young maiden. Shogakukan published his debut novel Missin' in 2000. He was nominated for the Yukio Mishima Literary Award twice, for his novels Emily (in 2003) and Lolita. (in 2004).[2]

Takemoto is best known for Shimotsuma Monogatari, titled Kamikaze Girls in English. The series was adapted to a manga and a film which was directed by Tetsuya Nakashima. Another of his novels, Twins --- A Variety Store Named "The End of the World", was also adapted for film in 2001 by Kiseki Hamada.[4]

The following biography has been translated from Takemoto's official website, NOVALA BOX.

"I'm a writer. I was born on January 26th, in 1745, during the Rococo period. I was born in Ujishi in the Kyoto area. I attended Osaka Art College. In 1990 I worked at a "novice shop" in the heart of Kansai, which dealt with artistic, musical and theatrical events. During that time I was a writer and editor for a free paper called the "Cultural Flourish News," which was the start of my career as an essayist. From 1992 to 1997, the "Cultural Flourish News" serialized my essays "Soleilnuit - For Becoming a Proper Young Lady," which received an unprecedented amount of popularity and support in 1998. This allowed the essays to be published in a separate volume. They invoke what I would call "a young lady's charisma." In 1999 and 2000, I switched my base of operations to Tokyo and wrote my debut novel Missin' for the publisher Shogakukan. Besides writing, I collaborated with BABY, THE STARS SHINE BRIGHT to create Novala Takemoto POUR LOLITA apparel, MATERIALLOLITA Bearbrick and Hello Kitty items, and I also go out of my way to diversify the quite multi-faceted Lolita culture."

Arrest

On September 2, 2007, Novala Takemoto was arrested for possession of cannabis and violating the Cannabis Control Law. After spotting Takemoto walking alone on a street in the Kabukicho district of Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward that evening, a police officer stopped him for questioning and reportedly found .22 grams of cannabis in Takemoto's possession, and Takemoto admitted to having used the drug.[5]

Takemoto's arrest has had serious repercussions for his career. Baby, The Stars Shine Bright has removed any mention of affiliation, such as his Pour Lolita and Hello Kitty lines, from their website. Takemoto's website was also shut down for an extended period of time and replaced by an apologetic note for visitors, but it has since reopened.

Works in English translation

Works

Novels and short stories

Essay collections

Picture books

Photo books

Other

Sources and Notes

  1. ↑ "'Otome no karisuma' Takemoto Nobara yōgisha, taima shoji de taiho." Asahi Shimbun. September 4, 2007.
  2. 1 2 Kondo, Miyuki. "Do your own thing: 'Lolita' novelist touches lonely hearts." Asahi Shimbun. July 24, 2004.
  3. ↑ McNeill, David. "Lolitas' Bard is Sitting Pretty." The Japan Times Online. Sunday, November 21, 2004.
  4. ↑ Shoji, Kaori. "Refuge in the little shop of solace." The Japan Times Online. Wednesday, November 28, 2001.
  5. ↑ "Novala Takemoto arrested for marijuana." United Press International.
  6. ↑ Emily - A Novel by Novala Takemoto (Shueisha English Edition)
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