Japanese Literary Awards

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Kazushi Hosaka

ほさか かずし

Hosaka Kazushi

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1956-10-15 （Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan）
Nationality
Japan
Languages
Japanese
Residence History
Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan → Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan

Career

Occupations
Novelist, Essayist, Critic
Active Years
1990-
Influenced By
Fyodor Dostoevsky, Franz Kafka, Samuel Beckett, Gabriel García Márquez, Thomas Pynchon, Nobuo Kojima, Komimasa Tanaka, Shichirō Fukazawa
Influenced
Yuka Shibasaki, Kenichirō Isozaki, Yūsei Takiguchi, Sumito Yamashita
Nominations
Candidate for the 12th Noma Literary New Face Prize (1990): Plain Song, Candidate for the 6th Mishima Yukio Prize (1993): Breakfast on the Grass, Candidate for the 26th Kawabata Yasunari Literary Prize (2000): The Joy of Living

Education

Eiko Gakuen Junior and Senior High School
Country: Japan
Waseda University, Faculty of Political Science and Economics
Faculty of Political Science and Economics
Period: 約1975–1981
Year of Graduation: 1981
Country: Japan
Began writing while enrolled; participated in a doujinshi circle

Awards

Noma Literary New Face Prize
1993
Work: Breakfast on the Grass
Organization: Noma Cultural Foundation
Result: Winner
Akutagawa Prize
1995
Work: This Person’s Threshold
Organization: Akutagawa Prize Selection Committee
Result: Winner
Tanizaki Jun'ichirō Prize
1997
Work: Memory of the Seasons
Organization: Tanizaki Prize Selection Committee
Result: Winner
Hirabayashi Taiko Literary Prize
1997
Work: Memory of the Seasons
Organization: Hirabayashi Taiko Literary Prize Selection Committee
Result: Winner
Noma Literary Prize
2013
Work: Struggle at Dawn
Organization: Noma Cultural Foundation
Result: Winner
Kawabata Yasunari Literary Prize
2018
Work: Here and Elsewhere
Organization: Kawabata Prize Selection Committee
Result: Winner

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Plain Song

1990 Novel

Published in 1990 as Hosaka's debut. A collection of short/episodic pieces that quietly depict characters' inner lives through everyday details.

everyday lifeintrospectionhuman relationshipsmemory

Breakfast on the Grass

1993 Novel

Published in 1993 as a sequel to Plain Song; released by Kodansha. Winner of the 1993 Noma Literary New Face Prize.

everyday lifecoming of agefamilymemory

This Person's Threshold

1995 Short story

A story narrated from the perspective of a male friend, portraying an ordinary woman's quiet day. Published in Shincho magazine and awarded the Akutagawa Prize.

everyday lifeexistencetimeattention to detail

Memory of the Seasons

1996 Novel

Published in 1996, this novel incorporates a child's perspective into reflections on everyday life, time, and nature; it received the Tanizaki Prize and the Hirabayashi Taiko Literary Prize.

memoryseasonstimenature

Conversation Piece

2003 Novel

A novel set in an old house that meditates on death and memory; took roughly two and a half years to write.

deathmemoryhometime

Struggle at Dawn

2013 Novel

Serialized from 2009 and published in 2013, this long novel continues Hosaka's quiet depiction of daily life while incorporating social and philosophical elements. Winner of the Noma Literary Prize.

struggletimesocialitymemory

Hallelujah

2018 Collection (short stories and essays)

Published in 2018; a collection of short stories and essays. The included piece "Here and Elsewhere" earned the Kawabata Yasunari Literary Prize.

everyday lifedistance/othernessmemory

The Cat Did Not Come

2021 Novel / Short story collection

Published in 2021; contains short pieces centered on cats and everyday life.

catslosseveryday life

Bibliography

  • Plain Song (1990)
  • Breakfast on the Grass (1993)
  • When Time Flows for Cats (1994)
  • This Person's Threshold (1995)
  • Memory of the Seasons (1996)
  • Reverberation (1997)
  • The Calculation Called 'I' (1999)
  • Another Season (1999)
  • The Joy of Living (2000)
  • Cats at Dawn (2001)
  • Conversation Piece (2003)
  • Kafka-style Notebook (2012)
  • Struggle at Dawn (2013)
  • Asatsuyu Correspondence (2014)
  • Like a Ground-Call, Like a Little Bird (2016)
  • Hallelujah (2018)
  • Reading Records (2019)
  • The Cat Did Not Come (2021)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Plain, introspective proseDetailed depiction of everyday minutiaeTends toward critical and experimental approaches
Recurring Motifs
catseveryday lifememorytimeold housestranquility

Legacy

Kazushi Hosaka is known for probing existence, memory and time through the seemingly trivial details of everyday life. He is one of contemporary Japan's notable writers, having received major literary prizes including the Akutagawa Prize, the Tanizaki Prize, the Noma Prize and the Kawabata Prize, and has influenced a younger generation of writers.

In Popular Culture

  • Appeared in a cameo as a customer in the film 'Strawberry Shortcakes'

Quotes

  • "If the world were to end tomorrow, I would like to spend such a final day."
    Source: Keizo Hino (comment from the Akutagawa Prize selection committee) (1995)
  • "He excels at depicting unremarkable everyday life without conventional story arcs."
    Source: Summary comment on his literary style

Trivia

  • Born in Yamanashi Prefecture in 1956; raised in Kamakura from age three.
  • Began writing while at university and debuted in 1990 with 'Plain Song'.
  • Worked at Seibu department store's culture center early in his career.
  • Cat lover; cats appear in many of his works.
  • Has been involved in editorial/publishing efforts such as reissuing Nobuo Kojima's work.
  • Has run a lecture series called 'Novelistic Thinking School' since 2019.
  • His spouse, Michi Shimizu, is a scholar of English literature.