The first literary award named after Nobel laureate Kenzaburo Oe was given to a series of short stories penned by Yu Nagashima, publisher Kodansha Ltd. announced Saturday.
Nagashima, 34, won the Akutagawa literary award for serious fiction in 2002. His collection "Yukochan no Chikamichi" ("Yuko's Shortcut") is about a man living on the second floor of an antique shop who gradually develops relationships with people in the shop.
The work was handpicked by Oe from literary works published in Japanese in 2006, according to Kodansha, which created the award in 2005 to promote Japanese fiction overseas. It will be translated into English, French or German for publication abroad.