Japanese Literary Awards

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Tomoka Shibasaki

しばさき ともか

Shibasaki Tomoka

Profile

Gender
Female
Born
1973-10-20 （Taisho Ward, Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture, Japan）
Nationality
Japan
Languages
Japanese

Career

Occupations
Novelist
Active Years
1999-
Influenced By
Jean Cocteau, Kazushi Hosaka, Human geography (academic discipline)
Nominations
Finalist, 35th Bungei Prize ('Talking About Me') (1998), Nominee, 136th Akutagawa Prize ('That Town's Present') (2007), Nominee, 137th Akutagawa Prize ('Theme Song') (2007), Nominee, 20th Mishima Yukio Prize ('Until We Meet Again') (2007), Nominee, 143rd Akutagawa Prize ('I Am Not in Khartoum') (2010)

Education

Osaka Prefectural University
School of Integrated Arts and Sciences / International Culture Course
Country: Japan
Member of the photography club; studied human geography, which influenced her attention to landscape.
Osaka Prefectural Shioka High School
Country: Japan

Awards

Sakuya Konohana Prize (24th)
2006
Work: A Day's Events
Category: 文芸その他部門
Organization: Sakuya Konohana Prize Committee
Result: 受賞
Oda Sakunosuke Prize (23rd) - Grand Prize
2006
Work: That Town's Present
Category: 大賞
Organization: Oda Sakunosuke Prize Committee
Result: 受賞
Art Encouragement Prize (Newcomer) - Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (57th)
2007
Work: That Town's Present
Category: 新人賞（文部科学大臣賞）
Organization: Agency for Cultural Affairs
Result: 受賞
Noma Literary Newcomer Prize (32nd)
2010
Work: Netemo Sametemo (Asako I & II / While Sleeping, While Awake)
Category: 新人賞
Organization: Noma Foundation
Result: 受賞
Akutagawa Prize (151st)
2014
Work: Spring Garden
Organization: Akutagawa Prize Committee
Result: 受賞
Association of Japanese Geographers Award (Social Contribution Division)
2016
Category: 社会貢献部門
Organization: Association of Japanese Geographers
Result: 受賞
Art Encouragement Prize (Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology) (74th)
2024
Work: Continuation and Beginning
Category: 文学
Organization: Agency for Cultural Affairs
Result: 受賞
Tanizaki Jun'ichiro Prize (60th)
2024
Work: Continuation and Beginning
Organization: Tanizaki Jun'ichiro Prize Committee
Result: 受賞
Osaka Honma Book Award (12th) - Special Prize
2024
Work: Osaka (co-authored with Masahiko Kishi)
Category: 共著
Organization: Osaka Honma Book Award Committee
Result: 特別賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

A Day's Events

2000 Novel

A collection of short fiction (debut collection) including "Red, Yellow, Orange, Orange, Blue," depicting fragments of urban life and everyday moments with subtle detail.

everyday lifeurban landscapesmemory
Adaptations
  • [Film] A Day's Events – film adaptation / 行定勲 (2004)

That Town's Present

2006 Novel

A novel about a town's present and the lives of its inhabitants; won the Oda Sakunosuke Prize grand prize and brought wide attention to her work.

townrelationshipsmemory

Netemo Sametemo (Asako I & II / While Sleeping, While Awake)

2010 Novel

A story exploring love and identity; published in 2010 and later adapted into a film that drew attention domestically and internationally.

loveselftransformation
Adaptations
  • [Film] Asako I & II (film) / 濱口竜介 (2018)
Translations
  • Asako I & II

Spring Garden

2014 Novel

A novella/short novel that sensitively depicts family and generational rifts; one of her representative works that won the 151st Akutagawa Prize.

familygenerationsmemory

Continuation and Beginning

2023 Novel

One of her notable recent works; it received the 2024 Art Encouragement Prize (Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology) for literature and the Tanizaki Jun'ichiro Prize.

continuityrenewalrelationships

Bibliography

  • A Day's Events
  • What Song Will You Sing Until the Next Town?
  • Blue-Sky Sentimental Tour
  • Shortcut
  • Full-Time Life
  • That Town's Present
  • Until We Meet Again
  • Theme Song
  • Star's Mark
  • Dreamers
  • Netemo Sametemo (Asako I & II)
  • Viridian
  • Rainbow Colors and Luck
  • In the Town Where I Was Not
  • Weekend Coming
  • More Secretly Than the Stars
  • Spring Garden
  • Panorara
  • A Day's Events, Ten Years Later
  • Apprentice of Kawauso Hori Ghost Tales
  • A Thousand Doors
  • Won't You Go to the Park? On Tuesday
  • Transient Things
  • Longing
  • A Hundred Years and a Day
  • Continuation and Beginning
  • Walking Far
  • The Detective Who Cannot Return

Adaptations

  • A Day's Events (film adaptation, 2004, directed by Isao Yukisada)
  • Netemo Sametemo (film adaptation, 2018, directed by Ryusuke Hamaguchi; screened in competition at the 71st Cannes Film Festival)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
quiet, restrained prosedetailed descriptions of landscape and scenea perspective that lifts fragments of everyday life
Recurring Motifs
landscapefragments of townsmemory and losseveryday minutiae

Health

  • Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
    診断公表: 2024年（自覚は若年期から）
    Reported lifelong tendencies such as forgetfulness, lateness, and clutter; these experiences influenced her 2024 memoir and public reflections.

Legacy

Regarded for delicate depictions of urban landscapes and everyday detail; winner of major literary prizes including the Akutagawa Prize, and known internationally through film adaptations presented at film festivals.

Academic Societies

  • Association of Japanese Geographers (award recipient)

In Popular Culture

  • 'Netemo Sametemo' was adapted into a film and screened in competition at the 71st Cannes Film Festival (2018).
  • 'A Day's Events' was adapted into a film directed by Isao Yukisada (2004).

Quotes

  • It was Jean Cocteau's poem 'Soap Bubbles' that, in just three lines, gave me the energy to continue writing novels.
    Source: Yosomitsumi by Tomoka Shibasaki (Nikkei Publishing), p.232 (2010)

Trivia

  • Born in Taisho Ward, Osaka City on October 20, 1973.
  • After university she worked for about four years as a company employee at a machinery manufacturer.
  • Debut piece: short story "Red, Yellow, Orange, Orange, Blue" (published 1999).
  • Reported to be single.
  • Official website: http://shiba-to.com/
  • Publicly disclosed an ADHD diagnosis in 2024 and reflected on the experience in a 2024 book.