Japanese Literary Awards

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Asahi Newcomer Literary Award

あさひしんじんぶんがくしょう

An open-call newcomer literary award sponsored by Asahi Shimbun.

Literary awardNewcomer literary award
Established
1990
Organizer
Asahi Shimbun
Category
Pure Literature
Selection Method
Open call
Target
Newcomer
Frequency
1 per year
Status
Ended

Description

The Asahi Newcomer Literary Award was an open-call newcomer literary award sponsored by Asahi Shimbun. Held once a year, the winner was determined by deliberation among the selection committee. A commemorative item was awarded as the main prize, along with 1 million yen as special prize money. Additionally, the winning work was published in Shosetsu Tripper magazine. It ended after the 19th edition in 2008.

Prize

Main Prize
A commemorative item as the main prize and 1 million yen as special prize money are awarded.
Cash Prize
1,000,000 JPY
  • The winning work is published in Shosetsu Tripper magazine

Selection

Selection Process

Final selection
Judges Deliberation by the selection committee

Related Awards

  • https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%96%87%E5%AD%A6%E8%B3%9E%E3%81%AE%E4%B8%80%E8%A6%A7

Official Resources

http://opendoors.asahi.com/tripper/

Past Winners

Takao Oshima おおしま たかお award

A magical historical novel that follows island time from the fifteenth century to the modern era through the perspective of the tree spirit Kijimuna. Myth, feng shui, war, and disease overlap as the memories of trees and humans form a long chronicle.

The memory of life as a tree spirit begins to tell five hundred years of a southern island.

181 pages
southern islandsKijimunamagical realismhistory
Yuu Iwatsuki いわつき ゆうすけ award

A fantastic tale that crosses a folktale-like mountain guarded by an old woman with the inner life of a woman trapped in ordinary reality. Loneliness and frustration loosen within the image of a mysterious flowered mountain.

A fantastic tale that crosses a folktale-like mountain guarded by an old woman with the inner life of a woman trapped in ordinary reality.

211 pages
fantasyfolktalelonelinessflowers
No winner
Shin Rakuzuki らくづき しん award

陽だまりのブラジリアン is a work by rakuzuki-shin. It was recognized by the asahi newcomer literary award in 2005 and centers on the people, places, or events suggested by its title.

陽だまりのブラジリアン can be read through the themes and narrative qualities that drew attention at the time of the award.

award-winning literaturecontemporary expressionstory and memory
河井大輔 かわい だいすけ award

A short story whose title evokes Sakhalin and the legendary fish ito. It can be read as a quiet excavation of place, memory, and northern nature.

The shadow of a fish in northern waters calls up memories of a distant land.

northern landscapesnaturememorynew literary writing
Mutsumi Ishii こまい れん award

"パスカルの恋" is an award-winning work by 駒井れん. It draws readers into its world through shifting emotions, relationships, and the atmosphere surrounding its characters.

パスカルの恋 became more widely known through its award recognition.

human relationshipsmemoryordinary and extraordinary life
Suzumo Sakurai さくらい すずしげ award

This youth novel begins when a call girl and a black cat tumble into the lives of an unemployed former band musician and his roommate. It portrays drifting part-time workers with the brightness of outsiders and a pop, rock-inflected sensibility.

A young woman and a black cat bring noisy, tender time into the room of unemployed young men.

184 pages
youthpart-time workersmusicurban life
Masatsugu Ono おの まさつぐ award

A Grave Submerged in Water is Masatsugu Ono’s novel of memory, place, and family presence, shaped through images of water. Beneath its quiet narration, lost things and difficult pasts settle like sediment, drawing the reader into their murk.

Like a grave sunk under water, the past remains quietly in place.

276 pages
memorywaterfamilysense of place
Koji Yanagi やなぎ ひろし award

The Counterfeit Botchan Murder Case is a mystery that builds on Natsume Soseki’s Botchan, layering literary play with detective-fiction devices. Using the memory of a classic, it turns forgery, quotation, and unstable truth into entertainment.

A forgery emerging from the shadow of a classic unsettles the truth of a murder.

350 pages
literary mysteryforgerySosekiparody and deduction
Naoki Tsujii つじい みなみあき award

A literary work built around the striking image of a headless figure, exploring the instability of body, memory, and self-recognition. It appeared as a newcomer-award-winning work, and no standalone book publication has been confirmed.

無頭人

bodymemoryself-recognition
勝浦雄 かつうら ゆう award

"ビハインド・ザ・マスク" is a work by 勝浦雄. It is recognized in the context of its award field, including literature, criticism, children's writing, mystery, or related genres.

"ビハインド・ザ・マスク" is an award-winning work that reflects 勝浦雄's distinctive approach.

award-winning workliteratureauthorial style
Eiichi Norimine のりみね えいいち award
Chungmyong Kim かねしげ あきら award

鳳積術 is an award-recognized work by 金 重明. It follows the tensions suggested by its title and presents them through character, setting, and narrative movement.

鳳積術 brings together the concerns of its moment with the author's chosen subject.

award-winning workpersonal changesociety and its time
竹森千珂 たけもり ちか award

金色の魚 is a work by 竹森千珂. It is known as a recipient of asahi-newcomer-literary-award and presents the author's concerns and style.

金色の魚 presents the literary world of 竹森千珂.

189 pages
award-winning workliterary expressionauthorial themes
Kaho Nakayama なかやま かほ award

"天使の骨" is an award-winning work by 中山可穂, recognized by the 朝日新人文学賞. It can be read as a representative work that concentrates the author style and concerns.

An award-winning work in which 中山可穂 brings the force of the title "天使の骨" into focus.

award-winning work朝日新人文学賞authorial style
Yuko Hata はた ひろこ award

面・変幻 is a work by 畑裕子. It was recognized in the 1994 cycle of asahi-newcomer-literary-award; the entry summarizes the work based on confirmed publication traces.

面・変幻 reflects the qualities in 畑裕子's writing that drew award attention.

award-winning work1994literature
No winner
甲斐英輔 かい えいすけ award

This fiction collection depicts uncertain memories and relationships through everyday scenes touched by instability. Alongside the title story, it gathers works attentive to quiet change and extends the resonance of the award-winning piece.

193 pages
日常記憶関係の揺らぎ
竜口亘 りゅうぐち わたる award

A suspense story centered on two men pursuing fossils in Cretaceous strata. Fascination with dinosaurs and ammonites becomes entangled with obsessive research, local memory, and dangerous motives.

A dream staked on fossils digs up both buried strata and human secrets.

203 pages
fossilsCretaceous periodcollaborationsuspense
鹿島春光 かしま はるみつ award

A collaboratively written suspense story about dreams and incidents surrounding Cretaceous fossils. Interest in marine reptiles and ammonites guides the characters' actions and the mystery of the book.

Curiosity about buried strata tests the bond between partners.

203 pages
fossilspartnershipregional settingnew suspense
Yoko Uozumi うおずみ ようこ award

Yoko Uozumi’s first collection, including the title story, reveals eerie beauty hidden beneath ordinary lives.

Deep inside a quiet house, an uncanny sign of life appears.

203 pages
short storiesfantastic qualityhousenew writer literature