[1] At age 26, Nishi lied to her parents about getting a job in Tokyo, and left Osaka to pursue her dream of writing professionally.
"Yellow Elephant"), a story about a long-married couple who receive a mysterious letter that leads them to revisit the history of their relationship, was published by Shogakukan.
"), which drew heavily on her childhood experiences in its portrayal of a male protagonist born in Iran who overcomes hardships while moving between Egypt and Japan.
[12] In 2016 her novel Makuko (「まく子」), about an elementary school boy whose friendship with a new transfer student leads to his discovery of a big secret, was published by Fukuinkan Shoten.
The novel was adapted into a 2019 film for Nikkatsu by screenwriter and director Keiko Tsuruoka, with Hikaru Yamazaki and Ninon in the lead roles.
"Meet the Monkey") were adapted into a two-part television series for subscription channel dTV, with the main characters played by fourth generation members of idol group Nogizaka46.
[15] That same year, director Hitoshi Yazaki adapted Nishi's novel Sakura, which had sold more than 500,000 copies since its publication in 2005, into a film starring Nana Komatsu, Takumi Kitamura, and Ryo Yoshizawa.
[17] Her English translator, Allison Markin Powell, has said that Nishi's writing is "deceptively simple yet beautiful", and that it "establishes an immediate intimacy with her characters.