[1] She entered graduate school at Hokkaido University intending to become an academic, but instead started writing stories that reflected her Kyoto upbringing.
[2][3] In 2004 Akazome won the 99th Bungakukai Prize for her story "Hatsuko-san," which was later published in book form as Utsutsu utsura (うつつ・うつら).
[4] Her 2010 book Otome no mikkoku (乙女の密告, The Maiden's Betrayal), about a group of women in a German class reading Anne Frank's The Diary of a Young Girl, generated controversy for using a casual writing style to discuss serious subject matter.
[5] Otome no mikkoku won the 143rd Akutagawa Prize, with the selection committee praising the use of humor to discuss social problems.
[6][7] The next year her book Uonteddo kaijin nijūichimensō (WANTED!