Umiyuri Katsuyama is a Japanese author of fantasy and horror. She was born and raised in northeastern Japan. She published five novels and two collections on the subject of Japanese/Chinese folklore and literature. In 2011, she won the 23rd Japan Fantasy Novel Award by “Sazanami no Kuni” (The Land of Ripples). She also won the 4th bk1 Kaidan Award in 2006 and the special citation of the 2nd “Yoo” Magazine Kaidan Award in 2007. Her latest novel “Chuushi, Ayashii Nabe to Tabi o Suru” (Tokyo Sogensha, 2018), a Seiun Award nominee, featured a young traveling chef with a shape-shifting wok in 18th century China. Now she is working at the next novel.