Bungakukai Newcomer Award
1 appearances
Akira Abe
あべ あきら
Abe Akira
Profile
- Gender
- Male
- Born
- 1934-09-22 （Hakushima, Hiroshima City, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan）
- Died
- 1989-05-19 （Fujisawa, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan (Fujisawa City Hospital)） age 54
- Nationality
- Japan
- Languages
- Japanese
- Religion
- Jōdo-shū (Pure Land Buddhism)
- Residence History
- Hakushima, Hiroshima City, Hiroshima, Japan (birthplace) → Kugenuma / Kugenuma Matsugaoka / Tsujido Tokaigan, Fujisawa, Kanagawa, Japan → Shonan region, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan (long-term residence)
Career
- Occupations
- Novelist, Television director
- Active Years
- 1962-1989
- Affiliations
- Radio Tokyo (now TBS)
- Nominations
- Akutagawa Prize nominee (6 times)
Education
| Institution | Faculty | Department | Degree | Period | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Tokyo | Faculty of Letters | Department of French Literature | 文学士 | 1954-1959 | Japan |
University of Tokyo
Faculty of Letters
/ Department of French Literature
Degree:
文学士
Period:
1954-1959
Year of Graduation:
1959
Country:
Japan
Active in student theater during university; student experiences influenced later works
Awards
| Year | Award | Work | Category | Organization | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1962 | Bungakukai Newcomer Award | Children's Room | — | Bungakukai (literary magazine) | 受賞 |
| 1973 | Mainichi Publishing Culture Award | A Thousand Years | — | Mainichi Newspapers | 受賞 |
| 1976 | Art Encouragement Prize (New Artists) | A Day in a Life | — | Agency for Cultural Affairs (Japan) | 受賞 |
Bungakukai Newcomer Award
1962
Work:
Children's Room
Organization:
Bungakukai (literary magazine)
Result:
受賞
Mainichi Publishing Culture Award
1973
Work:
A Thousand Years
Organization:
Mainichi Newspapers
Result:
受賞
Art Encouragement Prize (New Artists)
1976
Work:
A Day in a Life
Organization:
Agency for Cultural Affairs (Japan)
Result:
受賞
Awards & Nominations
Works
Major Works
Children's Room
1962 Short story (debut)Debut short story; an autobiographical-tinged piece that won the Bungakukai Newcomer Award.
familychildhoodI-novel / autobiographical elements
Underage
1968 Short story collectionFirst short story collection, featuring several autobiographical-tinged short stories.
coming of agefamilylocal memory
The Commander's Leave
1971 Short storyA noted short story that brought him wider attention; later published as a book.
postwar familyloss of paternal authoritysubtleties of daily life
A Thousand Years
1973 NovelPublished in 1973; a work examining place and time, winner of the Mainichi Publishing Culture Award.
sense of placepassage of timefamily history
A Day in a Life
1976 Short story / EssayPublished in 1976; captures a single day in life and won the Art Encouragement Prize (New Artists).
everyday depictionpersonal memoryI-novel perspective
Simple Life
1982 Novel / EssayA work focusing on the small details of daily life; thematically concerned with simplicity of living.
simplicity of lifeclose observation of everyday life
In Praise of Short Stories
1986 Criticism / EssayAn influential collection of essays on the short story form; discusses techniques and value of short fiction.
short story theoryliterary criticism
Bibliography
- Underage
- The Great Day
- The Commander's Leave
- Akira Abe Collection (Shin'ei Sakka Series)
- That Summer, That Sea
- Daily Companion
- A Thousand Years
- Life Without Ties
- A Day in a Life
- Children's Secrets
- The Bygone Joyful Years
- All Short Stories of Akira Abe
- Children's Room
- Portraits of Fathers
- Winds from the Sea
- Words First
- I Found Such Things
- Under the Big Tree
- Souvenir Pebbles (Essays)
- Twelve Scenes
- Basics of Prose
- The Dozing Inlet
- Simple Life
- Complete Works of Akira Abe (8 vols.)
- Diary of a Green Year
- An Unremarkable Day
- The Kindness of Water
- In Praise of Short Stories
- 18 Short Stories by Akira Abe
- The Joy of Essays
- Talking Short Stories (Dialogues)
- Series: Fathers and Sons
- Requiems and Records
- If You Give Cats Too Many Names
- Akira Abe Collected Works (14 vols.)
- Underage and 12 Short Stories
- Underage / Peach: Selected Short Stories
- Akira Abe Short Story Collection
- What the Angel Saw: A Collection of Boyhood Scenes
Style & Themes
- Literary Style
- I-novel / autobiographical perspectiveconcise, restrained prosemastery of the short story form
- Recurring Motifs
- postwar ex-servicemen and family dynamicsportrayals of family members with intellectual disabilitiesShonan (Kugenuma) settings: sea and quotidian landscapesmemory and fragments of everyday life
Health
-
Acute heart failure1989-05-19Died of acute heart failure; his writing career ended abruptly.
Legacy
Akira Abe is regarded as a leading figure of the 'inward' generation and a master of autobiographical short fiction. His delicate depictions of everyday life in the Shonan region and skill with short fiction earned lasting literary recognition; collected editions of his works continue to be published.
Archives
- National Diet Library (holds related materials)
- Iwanami Shoten (publisher of 'Akira Abe Collected Works')
In Popular Culture
- Known as a fan of the Hanshin Tigers and the Hankyu Braves (now Orix Buffaloes)
Trivia
- Was nominated for the Akutagawa Prize six times (one of the higher nomination counts)
- His father, Nobuo Abe, was an officer in the Imperial Japanese Navy
- His son Ryūjirō Abe is a television producer (former president of TBS Sparkle)
- While at the University of Tokyo he was active in student theater and worked as a tutor for notable students including Tsutsumi Tsuyoshi and Yasuda Kenichiro
- After leaving TBS he became a full-time writer and set up a study in Tsujido Tokaigan