Female writers win top Japan book awards after dominating shortlists
Junko Takase's short novel "Oishii Gohan ga Taberaremasuyoni" won the Akutagawa Prize for up-and-coming authors after women took all five spots on the prize's shortlist for the first time.
The awards will be presented at a ceremony in Tokyo in mid-February, with each author receiving ¥1 million ($9,635) in prize money.
Novelists Takayama and Tono win Akutagawa awards; Hase wins Naoki Prize
Novelists Haneko Takayama and Haruka Tono have won the Akutagawa Prize for up-and-coming authors, while Seishu Hase won the Naoki Prize for popular fiction, the selection committee said Wednesday. Takayama, 45, won for her novel "Shuri no Uma" ("A Horse from Shuri"), which depicts a ...
Two women named for Japan's Akutagawa, Naoki literary awards
Two novelists were selected Wednesday to receive the prestigious Akutagawa and Naoki literary awards for their works, one of which depicts stalker-like behavior by a woman and the other tells the tale of a traditional Japanese puppet playwright. Natsuko Imamura won the Akutagawa Prize for ...
Hiroki Takahashi wins Akutagawa literary award, while Rio Shimamoto bags Naoki Prize
Novelist Hiroki Takahashi has won the prestigious Akutagawa Prize for up-and-coming authors, while the Naoki Prize for popular fiction has been awarded to writer Rio Shimamoto, the selection committee said Wednesday. "Okuribi" ("Ceremonial Fire") by Takahashi, 38, depicts boys engaging in violent games at a ...
Chisako Wakatake and Yuka Ishii win Akutagawa literary award; Yoshinobu Kadoi bags Naoki Prize
Novelists Chisako Wakatake and Yuka Ishii have won the prestigious Akutagawa Prize for up-and-coming authors, while Yoshinobu Kadoi won the Naoki Prize for popular fiction, the selection committee said Tuesday. At age 63, Wakatake is the second-oldest winner of the award after Natsuko Kuroda, who ...
Convenience store worker who moonlights as an author wins prestigious Akutagawa Prize
A 36-year-old part-time convenience store employee has won the 155th Akutagawa Prize, a prestigious literary award, for a book that explores life in and around convenience stores, the selection committee announced. "I still can't believe it. It seems like a miracle," said Sayaka Murata, the ...
Yusho Takiguchi, Yukiko Motoya share Akutagawa Prize while Bumpei Aoyama wins Naoki Prize
Novelists Yusho Takiguchi and Yukiko Motoya have jointly won the prestigious Akutagawa Prize for emerging authors, while Bumpei Aoyama has won the Naoki Prize for popular fiction. Takiguchi, a 33-year-old native of Tokyo, won the 154th prize for his work "Shindeinai Mono" ("Those Who Are ...
Novelist and former Upper House lawmaker Akiyuki Nosaka, best known for his award-winning "Grave of the Fireflies," died Wednesday at a hospital in Tokyo due to heart failure, police sources said Thursday. He was 85. Nosaka had been undergoing rehabilitation after a stroke in 2003. After ...
Novelist Masatsugu Ono has won the prestigious Akutagawa Prize for up-and-coming authors, while the Naoki Prize for popular fiction has gone to writer Kanako Nishi, the selection committee said Thursday. Ono, a 44-year-old associate professor at Rikkyo University and a native of Oita Prefecture, won ...
Lyricist and literary award winner Yoko Yamaguchi dies at 77
Lyricist Yoko Yamaguchi, who also won a prestigious Japanese literary award in 1985, died Sept. 6 of respiratory failure, an official close to her said. She was 77. Yamaguchi, originally from Nagoya, opened a high-class bar in Tokyo's Ginza district and started writing lyrics while ...
Novelist Tomoka Shibasaki has won the Akutagawa award for up-and-coming authors of pure literature and Hiroyuki Kurokawa will receive the renowned Naoki Prize for popular fiction, the selection committee said Thursday. Shibasaki, a 40-year-old native of Osaka, won the 151st Akutagawa prize for "Haru No ...
