Why novelist Mio Nukaga chose a career change as the subject of her dramatization of “The Demon Lord of Changing Jobs.

How do you feel about the dramatization of “The Devil’s Master of Changing Jobs”?

Takano (MC): Mr. Nukaga, yesterday Mr. Ai said that you are a very scary but kind teacher who knows a lot about the backstage of the publishing industry.

Nukaga: So that’s what he thought (laughs).

Takano: We had an exchange on Twitter. I corrected you (laughs).

Nukaga: I said, “That’s what I thought,” and he immediately corrected me (laughs).

Takano: To a slightly scary but very kind teacher.

Nukaga: I don’t turn off scary (laughs). You make it a little bit.

Takano: It was interesting to see your relationship with Mr. Awai.

Celeina (MC): Let me give you a quick profile. I was born in 1990, and in 2015, I won the “22nd Seicho Matsumoto Award” and the “16th Shogakukan Bunko Novel Award. And you are currently a lecturer at a university.

Nukaga: Yes, I do.

Takano: With Mr. Awai?

Nukaga: We meet once a week and talk about what we read this week.　We talk about what we read this week or not.

Celeina: Heh. And Mr. Nukaga, your work from 2021, “The Demon King of Job Change,” has been dramatized. It started airing on Fuji TV this very week.

Takano: It’s amazing, isn’t it?

Nukaga: It just started.

Takano: I just showed you a picture I took with my phone, and there was an advertisement for “The Demon King of Job Change” in a station in Shinjuku’s Subnade!　It was!

Nukaga: I saw this ad today, too.

Takano: It had a great impact. Actually, I used to work as a career consultant. I am so impressed by this!　I know what it’s like. I also know the advertising industry, so I can tell you a lot of things about …….

Celeina: It matches with your experience.

Takano: How does it feel to have your work dramatized?

Nukaga: I thought that the visualization of a work is something that you don’t know what will happen until it is broadcast, so I am glad that the project was successful and made it to the airing stage.

Takano: So, basically, you just left it up to us?

Nukaga: That’s right. I was told that I would do it, and I left it to them without asking them to do this or that.

Celeina: I see. I was wondering how much the original work and the dramatization were in sync, so I’m glad to hear your point of view. Also, I thought the subject matter of changing jobs was really interesting.

Nukaga: I often start with the subject matter. If it’s about changing jobs, I start by trying to write something about changing jobs, and then I research various things about the job change industry, and I often develop elements that I think would make a good novel and turn them into a novel.

Takano: Do you do a lot of interviews?

Nukaga: Yes, I do. I start from the subject matter, so I do interviews before deciding what kind of story I want to tell, and I start by asking myself what kind of interesting things there are in this world.　I start from the beginning, wondering what kind of interesting things there are in this world. In the case of this job change, the person who was actually looking for a new job said that if the person using the recruitment agent did not have a clear idea of what they wanted to do or what they wanted to do with their life, it would not go well at all, and that was pretty much the crux of the work.

Takano: Did you actually talk to the people who were using the recruitment agents?

Nukaga: I heard from a lot of people who had used recruitment agents to change jobs, and I realized that unless you organize the existence of agents in your mind while you are looking for a new job, you won’t be able to use them well.

At first, “The Devil’s Master of Job Hunting” was intended to deal with job hunting for college students.

Celeina: What made you choose this subject of changing jobs in the first place?

Nukaga: My editor asked me if I wanted to write about changing jobs.

Celeina: If it were a music story, would the producer have suggested that you write this kind of song?

Nukaga: That’s exactly what I did.

Takano: Is that okay with you, Nukaga-san?

Nukaga: Yes, I am. If anything, the first time I took it upon myself was when I was a college student job hunting.

Celeina: Oh, really?

Nukaga: When I asked them how they were doing in their job hunting, the person in charge said, “No, I think you should change jobs.

Takano: Do you have a lot of communication with editors like that?

Nukaga: I do. It starts with, “What do you want to do?　For example, I would start with something like, “I saw a documentary yesterday that did something like this,” and then I would look for something that could serve as a springboard. For example, if it was a job change, I felt that the job change was the most interesting part, and I asked if I could do an interview and dig a little deeper.

Recent book recommendations and “Akutagawa Award” predictions

Celeina: Since you are writing a book, do you also like to read books?

Nukaga: I like reading a lot, but recently I have been spending most of my time reading materials necessary for my works, so the number of books I read has been decreasing. So I asked Yuki Awayi, who helped me yesterday, if there were any that I should read.　I asked her if there were any good books that I should read, and I’ve read a lot of them, but I’m trying to read the ones she recommended.

Celeina: So there is such a connection between book reviewers and authors.

Takano: Do you have any recent recommendations?

Nukaga: I just recently finished reading a book by (novelist) Shuichi Yoshida, which I really like. I just finished reading “Eien to Yokomichi Yonosuke,” which is the final part of the Yokomichi Yonosuke series written by Mr. Yoshida, and it was a very good book with a sense of accomplishment and sadness that it is over. I hope you will read it.

Takano: I recommend it to everyone.

Celeina: I would like to send you a song here, since you chose it.

Nukaga: I chose the song “Wonderland” by milet. The theme song for the drama of “The Demon Lord of Changing Jobs” is a new song by milet, “Living My Life,” and since it has not been released yet, I would like to ask you to choose a song by milet that I heard for the first time.

Celeina: Let’s listen to it together.

Takano: Mr. Nukaga, today is the announcement of the Akutagawa Prize, how do you feel about it?

Nukaga: I am a great fan of Yusuke Norishiro’s work, so my complete hope is that “It’s Makoto” will win.

Takano: Mr. Norishiro is the fourth time he has been nominated for the award.

Nukaga: That’s right.

Takano: I’ve heard from some fans that it’s about time for you to be nominated.

Celeina: And Mr. Nukaga, your new work “Seishun wo Kubanite (Fired from Youth)” will be released in September.

Nukaga: Thank you very much.

Celeina: What kind of work is it as far as you can tell us about it? ……

Nukaga: This is a story about a 35-year-old man who is working hard as a part-time lecturer at a university with a small income, and he is conflicted about whether he should really continue as a researcher or change his career and go into a different field. Will he really continue as a researcher, or will he change careers and go into a different world?

Celeina: I’m curious. Please check out this, “Fired from Youth,” which will be released in September. Now, FIST BUMP is a circle of friends connected by goofy touch, so we are asking you to introduce us to some of your friends.

Nukaga: I would like to introduce mystery writer Seinan Sato.

Celeina: What is your relationship with him?

Nukaga: He is a senior writer who has been a great help to me since my debut.

Celeina: In a word, how would you describe him?

Nukaga: In a word, I think he is a caring big brother in the publishing industry, although I think he hates it.

Celeina: Thank you very much. Tomorrow, we will connect with mystery writer Seinan Sato. Today we have novelist Mio Nukaga. Thank you very much.

Nukaga: Thank you very much.

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