Japanese Literary Awards

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Yusuke Miyauchi

みやうち ゆうすけ

Miyauchi Yusuke

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1979-01-18 （Tokyo, Japan）
Nationality
Japan
Languages
Japanese
Residence History
Tokyo, Japan (birthplace) → New York, USA (lived until 1992) → India (traveled) → Afghanistan (traveled) → Japan (residence)

Career

Occupations
Novelist, SF writer, Mystery writer, Translator
Active Years
2010-
Affiliations
Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of Japan, Mystery Writers of Japan, Waseda Mystery Club (alumnus)
Memberships
Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of Japan, Mystery Writers of Japan
Nominations
147th Naoki Prize nominee (Night on the Board), 149th Naoki Prize nominee (Angels of Johannesburg), 33rd/related Japan SF Award reference candidate (Night on the Board), 66th Mystery Writers of Japan Award nominee (Short Story: Aoba no Ban), 156th Akutagawa Prize nominee (The Garden of Kabul), 29th Yamamoto Shūgorō Prize nominee (America's Last Experiment), 157th Naoki Prize nominee (Ato wa No to Nare Yamato Nadeshiko), 40th Oda Sakunosuke Award nominee (Searching for Lauri Kuusk), 170th Naoki Prize nominee (Searching for Lauri Kuusk)

Education

Waseda University, School of Letters, Arts and Sciences
School of Letters, Arts and Sciences / Department of English
Country: Japan
Member of Waseda Mystery Club while at university
Waseda University Senior High School
Country: Japan

Awards

Sogen SF Short Story Award (Yamada Masaki Prize: Special Jury Prize)
2010
Work: Night on the Board (short story)
Organization: Tokyo Sogensha
Result: 受賞
Japan SF Award (33rd)
2012
Work: Night on the Board
Organization: Japan SF Award Committee
Result: 受賞
Ikeda Akiko Memorial 'Watakushi, Tsumari Nobody' Award (6th)
2013
Result: 受賞
Japan SF Award, Special Prize (34th)
2013
Work: Angels of Johannesburg
Organization: Japan SF Award Committee
Result: 受賞
Yoshikawa Eiji Literary Newcomer's Award (38th)
2017
Work: When She Was an Esper
Organization: Yoshikawa Eiji Prize Committee
Result: 受賞
Mishima Yukio Prize (30th)
2017
Work: The Garden of Kabul
Organization: Mishima Yukio Prize Committee
Result: 受賞
Seiun Award (Japanese Long Work, 49th)
2018
Work: Let the Rest Be Field, Yamato Nadeshiko
Category: 日本長編部門
Organization: Seiun Award Committee
Result: 受賞
Art Encouragement Prize (Newcomer), Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (70th)
2020
Work: He Suddenly Dies in a Far Foreign Land
Organization: Agency for Cultural Affairs
Result: 受賞
Mystery Writers of Japan Award (Short Story Category, 77th)
2024
Work: Dionysus Plan
Category: 短編部門
Organization: Mystery Writers of Japan
Result: 受賞
High School Naoki Prize (11th)
2024
Work: Searching for Lauri Kuusk
Organization: High School Naoki Prize Committee
Result: 受賞
Kaga Otohiko Commemorative Special Literary Award (4th)
2024
Work: Searching for Lauri Kuusk
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Night on the Board

2012 Short story collection (SF; board-game themed)

A collection of linked short stories themed around board games such as go and shogi. Through games the stories explore human relationships, ethics, and extreme situations; this was his debut book.

board gamesethicscompetition

Angels of Johannesburg

2013 Novel/linked novellas (SF)

A linked set of stories/novellas with SF elements set in Africa. From perspectives that traverse regions, it reexamines society, violence, and memory.

international affairsviolencememory

America's Last Experiment

2016 Novel (cross-genre SF and literary)

A large-scale narrative concerning the United States, interweaving scientific experiments and historical perspectives to depict the relationship between nation and individual.

experimentationstate and individualhistory

When She Was an Esper

2016 Novel (contemporary literature × SF)

A novel that mixes psychic elements with a focus on human drama; it sensitively portrays inner lives and relationships.

psychic phenomenainner lifehuman relationships

The Garden of Kabul

2017 Novella / literary fiction

Through a story concerning Afghanistan, it depicts encounters with others and fragments of history; its literary style was highly regarded.

war and civiliansencountersmemory

Let the Rest Be Field, Yamato Nadeshiko

2017 Novel (cross-genre SF and literary)

A cross-genre novel that develops while weaving social issues, gender, and historical contexts into the narrative.

genderhistorysocial critique

Delay Effect

2018 Short story collection (leaning toward contemporary literature)

A short story collection including themes of delay and time; each piece reflects temporal perception and human choices.

timechoicememory

He Suddenly Dies in a Far Foreign Land

2019 Novel (literary)

A novel about events in a foreign land; its style, which highlights individual fate and contingency, was well received.

foreign landsfatecontingency

Yellow Night

2020 Novel (contemporary fiction)

A work dealing with contemporary society, including short and mid-length pieces that portray human frailty and hope.

contemporary societyhuman frailtyhope

Searching for Lauri Kuusk

2023 Novel (literary)

A novel with an international perspective dealing with themes of search, loss, and memory. Winner of the High School Naoki Prize among others.

searchlossmemory

Bibliography

  • Night on the Board
  • Angels of Johannesburg
  • Exodus Syndrome
  • America's Last Experiment
  • When She Was an Esper
  • Space Keizai-dō
  • The Board of Moon and Sun: Go-Board Master Yoshii Risento's Casebook
  • The Garden of Kabul
  • Let the Rest Be Field, Yamato Nadeshiko
  • Delay Effect
  • At the Super-Moving House (short stories)
  • Sacred Place of Coincidence
  • He Suddenly Dies in a Far Foreign Land
  • Yellow Night
  • Thus She Speaks at the Banquet: Meiji Decadent Mystery Tales
  • Searching for Lauri Kuusk
  • The Man Who Wrote a National Anthem
  • The Cipher Child

Translations by Author

  • The First Terrorist Karakozov — The Man Who Inspired Dostoevsky (translation)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
a cross-genre style blending SF and literary fictionmeticulous description with ethical and philosophical questioningplot structures that employ game-like frameworks
Recurring Motifs
board games (go, shogi, etc.)travel and wanderingborders and movementmemory and lossgambling and contests

Legacy

A contemporary Japanese writer highly regarded for crossing the boundaries between SF and literary fiction, recipient of multiple major literary awards. Known for works that cross genres and raise questions through games and international themes.

Academic Societies

  • Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of Japan
  • Mystery Writers of Japan

In Popular Culture

  • Appeared in a reader special project of 'C.M.B.: Shinra Museum Case Records' (appeared with a line)

Quotes

  • It's just right to have a little regret...
    Source: C.M.B.: Shinra Museum Case Records Vol.31 (reader special project) (2013)

Trivia

  • Spent childhood (ages 4–11) in New York as a returnee child.
  • Mahjong enthusiast; won the celebrity brain battle in Mahjong Saikyosen 2020.
  • His father is writer Katsunori Miyauchi.
  • Spouse listed as Pippo (described as a promoter of modern poetry).