France Shoin Bunko Sensual Grand Award
1 appearances
-
Edition 26 (2020, held 2 times in year) Yuki Sayu Special Award
Shitara Rei
したら れい
Shitara Rei
Pen Names:
Shitara Reiko（Pen name used for early short-story publications）
Profile
- Gender
- Female
- Born
- 1982-03-09 （Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan）
- Nationality
- Japan
- Languages
- Japanese, English
- Residence History
- Sapporo, Hokkaido (birth to early schooling) → Tokyo (university to present)
Career
- Occupations
- Novelist, Essayist
- Active Years
- 2008-
- Memberships
- Japan Writers' Association
- Influenced By
- Hiromi Kawakami, Haruki Murakami
- Influenced
- Several younger contemporary novelists
Education
| Institution | Faculty | Department | Degree | Period | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Waseda University | Faculty of Letters | Department of Japanese Literature | 学士 | 2001-2005 | Japan |
Waseda University
Faculty of Letters
/ Department of Japanese Literature
Degree:
学士
Period:
2001-2005
Year of Graduation:
2005
Country:
Japan
Published short stories in magazines while enrolled
Awards
| Year | Award | Work | Category | Organization | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Akutagawa Prize | Garden of Shadows | — | Japan Literary Promotion Organization | winner |
| 2010 | Newcomer Literary Prize | The Sound Unraveling | — | Literary Magazine Editorial Board | winner |
Akutagawa Prize
2021
Work:
Garden of Shadows
Organization:
Japan Literary Promotion Organization
Result:
winner
Newcomer Literary Prize
2010
Work:
The Sound Unraveling
Organization:
Literary Magazine Editorial Board
Result:
winner
Awards & Nominations
Works
Major Works
Garden of Shadows
2020 Contemporary fiction 312 pagesAn ensemble novel depicting intersecting memories and losses of women living in a regional city. The narrative blurs past and present, dream and reality, quietly exploring individual loneliness and renewal.
memorylossfemale solituderenewal
Adaptations
- [Film] Garden of Shadows / 田中宏志 (2023)
Translations
- English translation: Garden of Shadows
The Sound Unraveling
2009 Short fiction 128 pagesA collection of short stories portraying unease arising from small distortions in everyday life. The restrained prose gradually reveals the interiority of the characters.
everyday anxietyboundariesfamily
Bibliography
- The Sound Unraveling (short story collection, 2009)
- Garden of Shadows (novel, 2020)
- Letters at Dawn (essay collection, 2015)
Adaptations
- Garden of Shadows (film adaptation, 2023)
Translations of Works
- Garden of Shadows — English translation, published 2022
Style & Themes
- Literary Style
- Restrained, tranquil proseDetailed interiority-focused descriptions
- Recurring Motifs
- windowsgardenswatersidefragmented memories
Legacy
A contemporary writer acclaimed for delicate psychological portrayals set in regional cities. Through award-winning work she influenced peers and younger writers and became known to a broader readership via film adaptations.
Academic Societies
- Society for Modern Japanese Literature
Quotes
-
Memory is like a cracked window; it only lets in a sliver of the outside light.
Source: Garden of Shadows (2020) (2020)
Trivia
- She has said the "garden" in her work is modeled on her family's garden.
- She sometimes composes tanka and occasionally includes them in her essays.