Osamu Hashimoto (1948–2019) was a Japanese novelist, critic, and essayist. Born in Tokyo, he graduated from the University of Tokyo with a degree in Japanese literature and began his career as an illustrator while still a student. In 1977, "Momojiri Musume" received an honorable mention in the Shosetsu Gendai New Writers Prize. Hashimoto worked across fiction, criticism, drama, essays, and modern reinterpretations of Japanese classics, including "The Tale of Genji" and "The Tale of the Heike." He received the Kobayashi Hideo Prize for "Mishima Yukio to wa Nanimono Datta no ka," the Mainichi Publishing Culture Award for "Socho Heike Monogatari," and the Noma Literary Prize for "Kusanagi no Tsurugi." His debut work, "Momojiri Musume," boldly incorporated the spoken language of contemporary young people to depict the everyday lives, relationships, and sexuality of high school students.