Japanese Literary Awards

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Hiroshi Nobue

のぶえ ひろし

Nobue Hiroshi

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1958-03-31 （Musashino, Tokyo, Japan）
Died
2025-04-06 （Hospital in Tokyo, Japan） age 67
Nationality
Japan
Languages
Japanese

Career

Occupations
Radio producer, Writer, Columnist, Radio DJ
Active Years
1980-2025
Affiliations
TOKYO FM (FM Tokyo) — Executive Planner, National Institute of Japanese Literature / 'Naijel Art Co-Creation Lab' (Agency for Cultural Affairs) — External Committee Member, Waseda University, Cultural Promotion Department — Advisor, NPO Vintage Aging Club — Vice Chair

Education

Keio University
Faculty of Letters
Period: 1976–1980
Year of Graduation: 1980
Country: Japan

Awards

Shosetsu Gendai Newcomer Award
1995
Work: Atashi wa Juice
Organization: Kodansha
Result: 受賞
Street Novel Prize
2022
Work: Sasurai no Bonbon Candy
Organization: Little More
Result: 受賞
ABU (Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union) Documentary Grand Prix
2008
Work: Sonoko's Letter
Category: ドキュメンタリー
Organization: Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU)
Result: グランプリ
Galaxy Awards (Radio Division)
2014
Work: Third-Year Spring Dispatch — Great East Japan Earthquake Special
Category: 特別番組
Organization: Broadcast Critics Association (Galaxy Awards)
Result: 大賞
Japan Broadcasting Culture Awards (Radio Division Grand Prix)
2017
Work: Sailing into a Sea of Words
Category: ドキュメンタリー
Organization: Japan Commercial Broadcasters Association (JBA)
Result: グランプリ
Broadcasting Culture Fund Award (Best Radio Program)
2019
Work: In Twisted Sorrow
Category: ラジオ番組
Organization: Broadcasting Culture Fund
Result: 最優秀賞
Broadcast Person Grand Prix
2017
Organization: Broadcast Person Grand Prix Organizing Committee
Result: 優秀賞（個人）
Japan Commercial Broadcasters Association — Runner-up Grand Prix
Organization: Japan Commercial Broadcasters Association (JBA)
Result: 準グランプリ
JBA — Best in Culture/Education
Category: 教養番組
Organization: Japan Commercial Broadcasters Association (JBA)
Result: 最優秀賞
JFN Awards
Organization: Japan FM Network (JFN)
Result: 受賞（大賞/特別賞 等）

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Atashi wa Juice

1995 Novel

Published in 1995. A novel that won the Shosetsu Gendai Newcomer Award and marked his debut as an awarded novelist.

youthurban lifemusic
Adaptations
  • [Film] Atashi wa Juice (film adaptation)

Someday It Will Clear Up — The Ooshika Village Disturbance

2011 Non-fiction / Reportage

A reportage documenting disturbances in Ooshika Village, published by Poplar Bunko. It deals with local conflict and recovery and was adapted into a film.

local communitycollective lifedocumentary
Adaptations
  • [Film] Someday It Will Clear Up (film adaptation) (2011)

Sasurai no Bonbon Candy

2022 Novel

Winner of Little More's Street Novel Prize; the work received attention following a film adaptation.

journeyyouthencounters
Adaptations
  • [Film] Sasurai no Bonbon Candy (film adaptation) (2022)

Sailing into a Sea of Words

2016 Documentary (special radio program)

A special radio documentary featuring Yosui Inoue and Robert Campbell. It won the Agency for Cultural Affairs Art Festival Excellence Award and the Japan Broadcasting Culture Awards (radio division grand prix).

musiclanguagedocumentary

Bibliography

  • Patriotism and No-Side
  • Gray
  • 7 Colors
  • Lion Heart — Language by a Precocious Young Poet
  • Pureful Anthology: Kiss (anthology, co-author)
  • Keith Haring: It Is Art as I Know It. It Is Life as I Know It.
  • Blue Child
  • Goodbye Hold On
  • 2011.3.11 And What I Think Now — Feel Love Vol.13
  • Takashi Matsumoto: Words Classroom (editorial contributor)
  • Sahashi Hiroshi — Tonight, At All the Rock Bars
  • J (Gentosha)

Adaptations

  • Someday It Will Clear Up (film adaptation, 2011)
  • Sasurai no Bonbon Candy (film adaptation, 2022)

Translations by Author

  • Yosui Inoue English Lyrics Collection (editorial project)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
documentary-style narrationsound-focused productionsocially and locally engaged perspective
Recurring Motifs
soundjourneymemorydisaster and recovery

Health

  • fatal arrhythmia
    Died on April 6, 2025 from a fatal arrhythmia (aged 67).

Legacy

He produced numerous special radio programs and documentaries, receiving high recognition such as the Galaxy Awards and Japan Broadcasting Culture Awards. As a writer he documented local stories and memory; through broadcast archives and cultural projects he influenced younger generations in radio and media.

Archives

  • Broadcast Library (program audio archives)

In Popular Culture

  • Murakami RADIO (produced Haruki Murakami's radio program)
  • Participation in TOKYO FM 50th anniversary projects
  • Haruki Murakami 40th Anniversary event production

Trivia

  • Educated at Gyosei Junior & Senior High School and Keio University Faculty of Letters.
  • Produced numerous radio programs at TOKYO FM over many years.
  • Participated in public cultural projects such as those of the National Institute of Japanese Literature and Waseda University.
  • Many of his produced programs are preserved in broadcast libraries.
  • Served as Vice Chair of the NPO Vintage Aging Club.