Yu Kusanagi (1967–) A Japanese novelist who worked as a screenwriter before making his debut as an erotic-fiction writer in 2004 with "Fushidara Tenshi." He has published more than 200 books, using sexuality as a central element in stories about loneliness, failure, relationships, and people struggling to rebuild their lives. "Momoiro Recruit Girl" received the Kanno Bunko Grand Prize. In his representative work, "Doshiyomonai Koi no Uta," Kusanagi follows a man driven to despair after the failure of his business and his relationship with a woman working in the sex industry, depicting how two damaged people come to depend on each other and attempt to rebuild their lives. The novel also received the Kanno Bunko Grand Prize, and later won the first Ura Yaesu Book Award in 2018.