Michiko Aoyama was born in 1970 in Aichi prefecture. After graduating from university, she worked for two years as a reporter for a Japanese newspaper in Sydney, then as a magazine editor at a publishing house before turning to full time writing. Her work has won the 1st Miyazakimoto Prize, the 13th Tenryu Literary Prize, and has been a runner up of the 2021 Japan Booksellers Awards. This is her English-language debut. She currently lives in Yokohama.