Her debut novel '
, set in Kyoto in the late Edo period, was published in 2004. Four years later her book ', a collection of linked stories taking place in Tokyo at different times from the
Edo period to the
Shōwa period, was published. At the 2nd
Waseda University Tsubouchi Shōyō Prize ceremony
Yoko Tawada received the Grand Prize, but Kiuchi received the Encouragement Prize for
Myōgadani no neko. The next year Kiuchi won the 144th
Naoki Prize for her historical novel '''', a story about a samurai and a courtesan in a Nezu
red-light district brothel just after the
Meiji Restoration. The committee specifically praised Kiuchi's attention to historical detail. Kiuchi won the award on her first nomination, in contrast to co-winner Shūsuke Michio, a five-time
Naoki Prize nominee. Kiuchi's first novel after winning the
Naoki Prize was her 2011 book '
, a story set in Asakusa immediately after the end of World War II. Her novel ', about a family of Yabuhara comb crafters at the end of the
Edo period, was published in 2013. The next year
Kushihikichimori won Kiuchi the 27th Shibata Renzaburo Prize for established writers of genre fiction, the 9th
Chūōkōron Literary Prize, and the 8th Shinran Prize, which is awarded to a work of fiction deeply rooted in Japanese spiritual culture. Her book '''' was a finalist for the 34th Oda Sakunosuke Prize in 2017. ==Recognition==