Books Jan 21, 2021
The awards will be presented at a ceremony in Tokyo in mid-February, with each author receiving ¥1 million ($9,635) in prize money.
National Jul 16, 2020
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 ...
Books Jul 17, 2019
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 ...
Books Jul 18, 2018
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 ...
National Jan 17, 2018
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 ...
National Jul 20, 2016
Convenience store worker who moonlights as an author wins prestigious Akutagawa Prize
by Daisuke Kikuchi
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 ...
National Jan 19, 2016
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 ...
Books Dec 10, 2015
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 ...
National Jan 16, 2015
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 ...
National Sep 16, 2014
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 ...
National Jul 17, 2014
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 ...
Editorials Jan 25, 2014
Japan ranks 105th out of 136 countries on the world gender gap index even as the winners of the nation's literary prizes were all women, again.