Subaru Literary Award
1 appearances
-
Edition 33 (2009) honorable mention
Wen Yourou
おん ゆうじゅう
On Yuju
Aliases:
Yuju Wen / Wen Yuju
Profile
- Gender
- Female
- Born
- 1980-05-14 （Taipei, Taiwan）
- Nationality
- Taiwanese
- Languages
- Japanese, Mandarin Chinese, Taiwanese Hokkien
- Residence History
- Taipei (birthplace) → Tokyo (raised)
Career
- Occupations
- Novelist, Essayist, Writer
- Active Years
- 2009-
- Influenced By
- Minato Kawamura, Hideo Levy, Li Liangzhi
- Nominations
- 157th Akutagawa Prize nominee (The Children in the Middle), 44th Noma Literary Newcomer Prize nominee (The Banquet)
Education
| Institution | Faculty | Department | Degree | Period | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tokyo Metropolitan Asuka High School | — | — | — | — | Japan |
| Hosei University | Faculty of International Culture | — | 学士 | — | Japan |
| Hosei University Graduate School | Graduate Program in International Cultural Studies (Master's) | International Cultural Studies | 修士 | — | Japan |
Tokyo Metropolitan Asuka High School
Country:
Japan
Hosei University
Faculty of International Culture
Degree:
学士
Country:
Japan
Attended Minato Kawamura's seminar during undergraduate studies.
Hosei University Graduate School
Graduate Program in International Cultural Studies (Master's)
/ International Cultural Studies
Degree:
修士
Country:
Japan
Studied in Hideo Levy's seminar in graduate school.
Awards
| Year | Award | Work | Category | Organization | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Subaru Literary Prize (33rd) | — | 佳作 | Shueisha (Subaru magazine) | 佳作（受賞） |
| 2016 | Japan Essayist Club Prize (64th) | Born in Taiwan, Raised in Japanese | — | Japan Essayist Club | 受賞 |
| 2019 | Commissioner for Cultural Affairs Commendation | — | — | Agency for Cultural Affairs | 表彰 |
| 2020 | Oda Sakunosuke Prize (37th) | The Chirping of Lu Rou Fan | — | Oda Sakunosuke Prize Selection Committee | 受賞 |
Subaru Literary Prize (33rd)
2009
Category:
佳作
Organization:
Shueisha (Subaru magazine)
Result:
佳作（受賞）
Japan Essayist Club Prize (64th)
2016
Work:
Born in Taiwan, Raised in Japanese
Organization:
Japan Essayist Club
Result:
受賞
Commissioner for Cultural Affairs Commendation
2019
Organization:
Agency for Cultural Affairs
Result:
表彰
Oda Sakunosuke Prize (37th)
2020
Work:
The Chirping of Lu Rou Fan
Organization:
Oda Sakunosuke Prize Selection Committee
Result:
受賞
Awards & Nominations
Nihon Essayist Club Award
1 appearances
-
Edition 64 (2016) award
-
Edition 37 (2020) grand prize
Works
Major Works
House of Good Fortune
2011 Fiction (short story collection)A collection of stories focusing on family and migration experiences; includes the debut piece "好去好来歌".
familymigrationidentitymemory
The Children in the Middle
2017 NovelA novel that portrays children positioned between worlds and explores perspectives of family and cultural liminality.
familyin-betweennessmulticulturalism
Airport Time
2018 NovelA work using airports and travel as motifs to depict landscapes where language and nationality intersect.
movementlanguageborders
The Chirping of Lu Rou Fan
2020 NovelA novel that uses Taiwanese food culture and memory as touchstones to explore transnational identity. Winner of the Oda Sakunosuke Prize.
food culturememoryidentity
Forever Young
2022 FictionA collection of stories that revolve around memory and generations.
generationsmemoryfamily
The Banquet
2022 NovelA novel that sensitively explores family, nationality, and language through the setting of a banquet. Nominated for the Noma New Literary Prize.
familynationalitylanguage
Reminiscences of Love
2025 FictionA recent collection of short stories focusing on personal memory and relationships with others.
memoryloverelationships
Bibliography
- House of Good Fortune (Shueisha, 2011)
- The Children in the Middle (Shueisha, 2017)
- Airport Time (Kawade Shobo Shinsha, 2018)
- The Chirping of Lu Rou Fan (Chuokoron-Shinsha, 2020)
- Forever Young (Kodansha, 2022)
- The Banquet (Shinchosha, 2022)
- Reminiscences of Love (Shueisha, 2025)
- My Dear Country (ZINE, 2009)
- Born in Taiwan, Raised in Japanese (Hakusuisha, 2015)
- Departing from the 'National Language' (Shin-yo-sha, 2019)
- In a Country That Is Not Mine (Chuokoron-Shinsha, 2023)
- Special Shanghai (co-authored, Saizusha, 2003)
- Words of the World About Books (co-authored, Sogensha, 2019)
- Between You and Me: Living in This Country Now (co-authored, Akashi Shoten, 2020)
- Railway Stories (co-authored, Kotsu Shimbunsha, 2022)
- Wavering Manners (co-authored, Chuokoron-Shinsha, 2024)
- I Want to Talk at Royal Host Until Night (ed., Asahi Shimbun Publications, 2025)
Style & Themes
- Literary Style
- Realistic and introspective style with a transnational perspectiveExpression that depicts multilingual and cultural disjunctions
- Recurring Motifs
- familymigration/transborder experiencelanguage and translationfood culture and memory
Legacy
A Taiwan-born, Tokyo-raised writer who plays an important role in transnational Japanese literature. Her work, which centers on family, memory, and language, has been recognized domestically and has received several literary awards and nominations.
Quotes
-
Japanese is not a foreign language, but I cannot say it is my mother tongue or my national language.
Source: GINZA interview (2019) (2019)
Trivia
- Moved to Japan at age 3 and was raised in Tokyo.
- Likes: Doraemon, THE YELLOW MONKEY, and boiled dumplings (shuijiao).
- Active on a Hatena Blog and on X (formerly Twitter).