is a Japanese sh?jo manga artist and member of the Year 24 Group. She made her professional debut in 1969 with Kotchi muite Mama! in Bessatsu Margaret, and has since written mainly historical manga. She is best known for her series Mari to Shingo (published in Hana to Yume from 1979—1984) about a romance between two young men in the early Sh?wa era.
She received the 1985 Shogakukan Manga Award for sh?jo for Yume no Ishibumi, a multi-volume collection of short stories with sh?nen-ai themes.
In 1998, Kihara adapted Torikaebaya monogatari, a Heian-era tale, into a manga volume called Torikaebaya Ibun. Her manga was then adapted as a Takarazuka Revue musical.
In 1999, Kihara won the Shimada Prize for Yubi no tankyu: Kano Tan'yu ron.