Naoki Matayoshi

Naoki Matayoshi (又吉 直樹 , Matayoshi Naoki , born June 2, 1980) is a Japanese comedian, screenwriter, and novelist who won the Akutagawa Prize in 2015 for his book Hibana (火花 , Spark) , which was adapted into the Netflix series Hibana: Spark.

Matayoshi is the boke of his comedy duo Peace alongside his partner Yuji Ayabe. Ayabe left Japan for New York in 2016 to continue his comedic career overseas while Matayoshi stayed in Japan, effectively making the duo inactive since then.

He is from Neyagawa City in Osaka Prefecture. He graduated from Hokuyo Senior High School (presently Kansai University Hokuyo Senior High School).