Japanese Literary Awards

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Rie Kudan

くだん りえ

Kudan Rie

Profile

Gender
Female
Born
1988-06-07 （Nerima, Tokyo, Japan）
Nationality
Japan
Languages
Japanese
Residence History
Nerima, Tokyo, Japan → Kamakura, Kanagawa, Japan

Career

Occupations
Novelist, Essayist
Active Years
2012-
Affiliations
Japan PEN Club
Memberships
Japan Writers Association
Influenced By
Haruki Murakami, Mieko Kawakami

Education

Waseda University
Faculty of Letters / Department of Japanese Literature
Degree: 文学士
Period: 2006-2010
Year of Graduation: 2010
Country: Japan
Wrote short stories in a university literary circle

Awards

Shinsei Literary Prize
2024
Work: Fragments of the Sea
Category: 長編小説
Organization: Shinsei Literary Foundation
Result: Winner
Emerging Writers Award
2018
Work: Cat at the Window
Category: 短編集
Organization: Emerging Writers Foundation
Result: Winner

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Fragments of the Sea

2023 Literary fiction 320 pages

A novel set in a coastal town about family memories and loss, where past and present intersect and characters' inner lives are carefully explored.

seamemorylossfamily
Adaptations
  • [Film] Fragments of the Sea / 中井 健一 (2025)
Translations
  • English translation: Fragments of the Sea (trans. S. Tanaka, 2025)

Cat at the Window

2018 Short story collection 160 pages

A collection of short stories depicting the daily lives and solitude of people on the margins of urban life, marked by quiet narration and sharp observation.

urban lifelonelinessanimals

Bibliography

  • Cat at the Window (2018)
  • Essay Collection: Voices of a Small Town (2021)
  • Sketches of Short Nights (2020)
  • Fragments of the Sea (2023)

Adaptations

  • Fragments of the Sea (Film, 2025)

Translations of Works

  • Fragments of the Sea — English translation (2025)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
lyrical, indirect narrationdetailed natural description and interior monologue
Recurring Motifs
seawindowscatsmemory

Legacy

Recognized as a rising voice in contemporary Japanese literature, her work focusing on the sea and memory has gained support among younger readers. Following award recognition, translations and screen adaptations have increased.

Academic Societies

  • Society for Modern Japanese Literature

Archives

  • Waseda University Library, Special Collections (Literary Materials)

In Popular Culture

  • A passage from Fragments of the Sea trended on social media and inspired numerous short video works.

Quotes

  • Words are deep like the sea and sometimes cold. Yet there is a light found only within them.
    Source: Fragments of the Sea (2023)

Trivia

  • Often writes drafts at seaside cafés
  • Has a short story inspired by her pet cat