"Warui Nakama" and "Inki na Tanoshimi" are early short stories by Shotaro Yasuoka that jointly won the 29th Akutagawa Prize. Through prose marked by lightness and self-mockery, they depict isolation from childhood, a sense of guilt, illness, and unease toward family, marking the starting point of a writer associated with the Third Generation of postwar authors.

Two prize-winning stories that capture guilt and isolation in a supple style and bring a new inner voice to postwar literature.