Novelist Tamaki Daido has won the 128th Akutagawa Prize, one of Japan's most prestigious literary awards, for a work titled "Shoppai Drive" ("Salty Driving"), organizers announced Thursday.
Although six writers were nominated for the Naoki Prize, another famous literary accolade, organizers said no one had won the award.
Daido, 36, had previously been nominated for the Akutagawa Prize on three occasions.
"Shoppai Drive" focuses on a romance between a woman in her 30s and a rich man in his 60s.
One of the nominees for this year's Akutagawa Prize was 19-year-old high school student Rio Shimamoto, which attracted a great deal of attention.
Daido will receive 1 million yen at an awards ceremony in Tokyo on Feb. 21.
Both awards, named after novelists Ryunosuke Akutagawa and Sanjugo Naoki, were inaugurated in 1935.