Japanese Literary Awards

← Back to Literary Awards

Bunkamura Deux Magots Literary Award

ぶんかむらドゥマゴぶんがくしょう

A literary award established in 1990 to inherit the spirit of Paris's Prix des Deux Magots and discover new talents.

FictionCriticismPlaysPoetry
Established
1990
Organizer
Tokyu Bunkamura Inc.
Category
Literature and General Literary Arts
Selection Method
Recommendation
Target
Professional
Frequency
1 per year
Announcement Period
around September
Status
Active

Description

Inheriting the avant-garde nature and originality of the Paris Prix des Deux Magots (established in 1933), this literary award aims to discover new talents from a wide range of genres unbound by established concepts. It is hosted by Tokyu Bunkamura Inc., with selections made annually by the committee members.

Prize

Main Prize
Certificate and Swiss Zenith watch
Cash Prize
1,000,000 JPY
  • Invitation to the Paris Prix des Deux Magots award ceremony (optional)

Selection

Selection Process

Selection
Judges One committee member each year
Announcement Early September

Criteria

  • Avant-gardism
  • Originality
  • Unbound by established concepts
  • Discovery of new talents

Related Awards

  • Paris Prix des Deux Magots

Official Resources

https://www.bunkamura.co.jp/bungaku/

Past Winners

Hideyuki Takano たかの ひでゆき award

A stage work that digs into memory and the body under occupation from a contemporary perspective.

A stage work that digs into memory and the body under occupation from a contemporary perspective.

stagememorybodypostwar
Nao-cola Yamazaki やまざき なおこーら award

Nao Cola Yamazaki's Mirai no Genji Monogatari. I confirmed it as a standalone book from Tankosha with ISBN13 9784473045485.

A book that rereads The Tale of Genji from a contemporary perspective.

184 pages
literary essayclassical literaturestandalone book
Kumi Kimura きむら くみ award

A novel in which two people burdened by memories of harm meet in a place that fears the first infected person and begin a quiet life on the run. It traces the weight of past wrongdoing and a relationship built on sensing one another's presence.

A lonely and fragile life on the run for two people burdened by guilt.

152 pages
novelpandemicguiltisolation
Rimako Horikawa ほりかわ りまこ award

An illustrated book that portrays a girl's release from tension through the memory of a summer spent in a seaside atelier.

Seaside light gently wraps an unforgettable week.

32 pages
絵本記憶アトリエ
Muneo Ishikawa いしかわ むねお award

A nonfiction work that traces Gérard Philipe's final winter while drawing the radiance of an actor and the memory of an era.

One actor's final season becomes a portrait of an entire era.

208 pages
ノンフィクション映画伝記記憶
Mitsuo Oda おだ みつお award

古本屋散策 is an award-winning work that examines memory, social pressure, and the ways people try to understand themselves and others through its central situation.

古本屋散策 considers the relationship between individual lives and the society around them through the shape of an award-winning work.

259 pages
award-winning workrelationshipsmemorysocietyconflict
Kura Sasara くら ささら award

Kamisama no Jusho, Sasara Kura's first book, combines tanka with self-commentary, moving among everyday sensation, dreams, the cosmos, the body, and wordplay. Using short poems as entry points, the book opens the pathways of the author's imagination and conveys the pleasure of reading tanka through prose as well.

A debut book rich in sensation and wordplay, offering tanka as vessels for flowers the self has breathed out.

272 pages
tankaself-commentarywordplaybodily sensationdreams and the cosmos
Toshiki Matsuura まつうら としき award

In wartime Shanghai, Japanese policeman Serizawa is driven out after arranging contact between the army and the Green Gang. Abandoned by homeland and profession, he tries to survive in the city’s chaos.

A man without a homeland searches for honor and ecstasy in Shanghai’s shadows.

765 pages
ShanghaiSino-Japanese Warhonorhistorical novel
Fuminori Nakamura なかむら ふみのり award

私の消滅 is an award-winning work that examines memory, social pressure, and the ways people try to understand themselves and others through its central situation.

私の消滅 considers the relationship between individual lives and the society around them through the shape of an award-winning work.

176 pages
award-winning workrelationshipsmemorysocietyconflict
Satetsu Takeda たけだ さてつ award

紋切型社会:言葉で固まる現代を解きほぐす is an award-winning work that examines memory, social pressure, and the ways people try to understand themselves and others through its central situation.

紋切型社会:言葉で固まる現代を解きほぐす considers the relationship between individual lives and the society around them through the shape of an award-winning work.

20 pages
award-winning workrelationshipsmemorysocietyconflict
Harutsugu Yamaura やまうら げんじ award

ナツェラットの男 is a work by 山浦玄嗣 known for its careful treatment of the themes described in the Japanese bibliographic record.

ナツェラットの男 is a work by 山浦玄嗣 that continues to draw attention through its award history.

award-winning literaturememoryhuman relationships
Yuko Onda おんだ ゆうふこ award

余白の祭 is a work by 恩田侑布子. It can be introduced as a story whose appeal lies in its premise, character relationships, and the emotional movement suggested by the award record and bibliographic sources.

余白の祭 is a work whose outline can be traced through award records and bibliographic sources.

413 pages
award-recognized workcharacter relationshipsemotional tension
Hitomi Kanehara かねはら ひとみ award

マザーズ is an award-winning work by kanehara-hitomi. This entry summarizes the work from award records and public bibliographic sources.

A work whose profile and availability can be traced through its award history.

award-winning workcontemporary literaturebibliographic verification
Kenichiro Isozaki いそざき けんいちろう award

赤の他人の瓜二つ is a 小説 by 磯崎憲一郎. A novel that uses coincidence and resemblance to others to unsettle the boundary between self and world. It depicts the feeling that the outline of reality is gradually slipping.

赤の他人の瓜二つ builds its world around coincidence.

167 pages
coincidenceselfother peopleunstable reality
Mariko Asabuki あさぶき まりこ award

A novel in which voices, memory, and the feel of place flow together, unsettling the outline of narration itself. It foregrounds the movement of language over plot and explores how traces of life remain.

A novel in which voices, memory, and the feel of place flow together, unsettling the outline of narration itself.

102 pages
memory言葉の流れ身体感覚痕跡
Keiichiro Hirano ひらの けいいちろう award

ドーン presents its central unease through concise scenes and carefully withheld explanation. The story draws the reader toward a quiet disturbance rather than a simple shock.

ドーン is a story in which the presence of the uncanny slips into everyday life.

493 pages
Mars explorationnear futurememory
Masaya Nakahara なかはら まさや award

A volume collecting Masaya Nakahara’s diary from 2004 to 2007, layering fragments of daily life, work, friendships, and irritation as a writer and musician.

Fragments from three and a half years bring a writer’s life and the atmosphere of the time into view.

416 pages
diaryessaymusicsubculture
Norio Akasaka あかさか のりお award

A critical study of the energy Taro Okamoto found in Japanese folk culture and forms. Through the artist’s travels and discoveries, it traces wildness and festivity at the roots of Japanese culture.

A critical study of the energy Taro Okamoto found in Japanese folk culture and forms.

375 pages
Taro OkamotofolkloreJapanese cultureart
Yoko Hiramatsu ひらまつ ようこ award

Kaenai Aji is an essay collection that draws flavor from daily life: persimmons, cold rice, earthenware teapots, chopstick rests, vessels, and the feel of the table. It writes about sensations and memories that cannot simply be bought, in clear and attentive prose.

The book looks closely at the priceless taste found in ordinary days.

197 pages
fooddaily lifememoryvesselsordinary moments
Tamaki Daido だいどう たまき award

傷口にはウオッカ is a work by daido-tamaki. It was recognized by the bunkamura deux magots literary award in 2005 and centers on the people, places, or events suggested by its title.

傷口にはウオッカ can be read through the themes and narrative qualities that drew attention at the time of the award.

award-winning literaturecontemporary expressionstory and memory
Kenji Taguchi たぐち けんじ award

Mellow 1983, retitled Mellow in book form, is a novel by Kenji Taguchi. Fragmentary narration, memories of pop culture, and unfulfilled love mingle to create a tone that is both sweet and cruel.

A chain of fragments resonates like a sweet and cruel love song.

170 pages
pop literaturefragmentsmemories of the 1980slove and loss
Mari Yonehara よねはら まり award

"オリガ・モリソヴナの反語法" is an award-winning work by 米原万里. It draws readers into its world through shifting emotions, relationships, and the atmosphere surrounding its characters.

オリガ・モリソヴナの反語法 became more widely known through its award recognition.

416 pages
human relationshipsmemoryordinary and extraordinary life
Yoko Tawada たわだ ようこ award

球形時間 is a work by 多和田葉子. Recognized as an award-winning work in 2002, it opens its world through the people, places, and events suggested by its title and through the texture of its language.

球形時間 can be read through the themes and verbal force that drew attention at the time of the award.

literaturememoryaward-winning work
Hiromichi Horikawa ほりかわ ひろみち award

A biography of Akira Kurosawa written by Hiromichi Horikawa, who worked beside him as an assistant director. It follows Kurosawa from his youth to his emergence as a world-renowned filmmaker, combining memories of film production with the atmosphere of the times.

A filmmaker who knew the set traces the life, work, and private face of Kurosawa.

353 pages
film historybiographymentor and apprenticepostwar Japanese cinema
Banana Yoshimoto よしもと ばなな award

A short-story collection by Banana Yoshimoto. Against the backdrop of travel in South America and the pain of love, it portrays recovery of feeling and the aftertaste of loss in a gentle style.

不倫と南米

travelloveloss
Hiromi Kawakami かわかみ ひろみ award

"神様" is a work by 川上 弘美. It is recognized in the context of its award field, including literature, criticism, children's writing, mystery, or related genres.

"神様" is an award-winning work that reflects 川上 弘美's distinctive approach.

194 pages
award-winning workliteratureauthorial style
Toshihiko Yahagi やはぎ としひこ award
Machida Kō まちだ やすし award

くっすん大黒 is an award-recognized work by 町田 康. It follows the tensions suggested by its title and presents them through character, setting, and narrative movement.

くっすん大黒 brings together the concerns of its moment with the author's chosen subject.

173 pages
award-winning workpersonal changesociety and its time
Kōichi Iijima いいじま こういち award

暗殺百美人 is a work by 飯島耕一. It is known as a recipient of bunkamura-deux-magots-literary-award and presents the author's concerns and style.

暗殺百美人 presents the literary world of 飯島耕一.

214 pages
award-winning workliterary expressionauthorial themes
Shuichi Sae さえ しゅういち award

"黄落" is an award-winning work by 佐江衆一, recognized by the Bunkamuraドゥマゴ文学賞. It can be read as a representative work that concentrates the author style and concerns.

An award-winning work in which 佐江衆一 brings the force of the title "黄落" into focus.

award-winning workBunkamuraドゥマゴ文学賞authorial style
Shungiku Uchida うちだ しゅんぎく award

ファザーファッカー、私たちは繁殖している is a work by 内田春菊. It was recognized in the 1994 cycle of bunkamura-deux-magots-literary-award; the entry summarizes the work based on confirmed publication traces.

ファザーファッカー、私たちは繁殖している reflects the qualities in 内田春菊's writing that drew award attention.

award-winning work1994literature
Teruhiko Kuze くぜ みつひこ award

蝶とヒットラー is an award-winning work by 久世光彦. It represents the author’s concerns and style within the context of the prize category.

蝶とヒットラー presents the literary world of 久世光彦.

award-winning workauthorial voiceliterary expression
Hideaki Mita みた えいはく award

This biography follows the life and art of the unorthodox painter Masao Tsuruoka, approaching both his freewheeling personality and the core of his work. Through avant-garde energy, satire, and unruly vitality, it brings one corner of postwar art to life.

294 pages
評伝戦後美術鶴岡政男
Koichi Yamada やまだ こういち award

Film critic Koichi Yamada portrays François Truffaut's life and work through personal memory and film history. The biography conveys the spirit of the Nouvelle Vague and the joy and pain of living through cinema.

Through Truffaut, loving cinema and telling a life become one act.

369 pages
film historybiographyNouvelle Vaguefriendship