The recent media hype over a possible e-book revolution has obscured the real star of the book world — the author — and the continued functioning of the system for discovering new literary talent in Japan, including the competition among new authors for 30-some literary prizes.
Even as the publishing world suffers declining sales, especially of hardcover fiction, there is no lack of promising new writers, as illustrated in the latest winners of the most prestigious award for literary fiction, the Akutagawa Prize.
Ms. Mariko Asabuki, a graduate student in modern kabuki at Keio University, comes from a literary family. Her winning work "Kikotowa" is a Proustian tale of two women meeting after 25 years and recalling the past.