Japanese Literary Awards

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Da Vinci Literary Award

だ・ヴィンチぶんがくしょう

New writer literary award sponsored by Media Factory's magazine Da Vinci.

Novel
Established
2006
Organizer
Media Factory
Category
General Fiction and Popular Fiction
Selection Method
Open call
Target
Newcomer
Frequency
1 per year
Status
Ended

Description

Solicits novels equivalent to 100-200 sheets of 400-character manuscript paper. Grand Prize: 1 million yen prize money and publication of the winning work by Media Factory. Ended with the 7th edition in 2012, succeeded by the Da Vinci "Story of Books" Grand Prize.

Prize

Main Prize
Grand Prize: 1 million yen prize money and publication of the winning work by Media Factory
Cash Prize
1,000,000 JPY
  • Excellence Award: 200,000 yen prize money
  • Reader's Award: 200,000 yen prize money
  • Editor-in-Chief Special Award: 100,000 yen prize money

Selection

Criteria

  • No genre restrictions
  • 100-200 sheets of 400-character manuscript paper

Related Awards

  • Da Vinci "Story of Books" Grand Prize
  • Da Vinci Literary Award A.S. Zero One Grand Prix

Official Resources

https://web-davinci.jp/contents/literary/index.php

Past Winners

No winner
工藤水生 くどう みずき grand prize

This work is introduced as a literary award-winning title. It focuses on its central motif and characters while reflecting the genre and period in which it appeared.

笑えよ invites readers into its world through its central motif and award-winning premise.

literary award winnerpersonal choicesmemory and relationships
里中智矩 さとなか とものり readers prize

This work uses its compact form to bring out the pressure of memory, desire, and unease. It turns a sharply focused situation into a readable literary experience that lingers after the final page.

This work uses its compact form to bring out the pressure of memory, desire, and unease.

受賞作人間関係緊張余韻
Kaeruko Akeno あけの かえるこ grand prize

ゴボウ潔子の猫魂 is a 小説 by 朱野帰子. As an award-recognized work, it concentrates the author's concerns and explores its subject through a distinctive style.

ゴボウ潔子の猫魂 condenses the author's central concerns behind its brief title.

262 pages
memorylanguagerelationships
Junjō Shindō しんどう じゅんじょう grand prize

Shindo Junjo’s debut novel centers on a man who writes stories into a large regional atlas. Maps, movement, and narration overlap until real places become a labyrinth of stories.

A man carrying a map spins the stories hidden in places as he walks.

149 pages
mapsstorytellingcitydebut
Ririko Tono とおの りりこ readers prize

Ririko Tono’s debut, published under a new title after the award-winning Asagao no Asa. In humid everyday scenes, it portrays people shaken by love and loss with a slightly uncanny touch.

Awkward love takes on pain and tenderness in the humidity of summer.

252 pages
lovelossstory collectiondebut
Nagisa Yamamoto やまもと なぎさ editor-in-chief special prize

A coming-of-age novel set around the library committee of a regional college-prep high school. It observes the awkwardness of love and friendship from the space of the school library.

In the quiet of the library, the distance between love and friendship slowly changes.

184 pages
coming-of-age fictionlibrary committeeromanceregional high school
Mako Takihane たきはね まこ grand prize

A coming-of-age novel about Yuko, a high school student who slowly finds a place for herself through a bakery and her family life. Memories of bread and the distance between people are drawn with warmth.

A coming-of-age novel about Yuko, a high school student who slowly finds a place for herself through a bakery and her family life.

144 pages
coming of agefamilybakerybelonging
曽我部敦史 そがべ あつし excellence award

山下バッティングセンター is nonfiction that patiently approaches its subject and connects individual experience with social structures. It draws the distortions of its time from concrete scenes.

山下バッティングセンター is nonfiction that patiently approaches its subject and connects individual experience with social structures.

nonfictionsocietyrecord
岡本蒼 おかもと あお editor-in-chief special prize

FISH IN THE SKY, by 岡本蒼, is an award-recognized work. It follows the movement of its characters’ minds and surrounding world, drawing out the conflict and change behind its concise title.

FISH IN THE SKY, by 岡本蒼, is an award-recognized work.

charactersconflictchange
Azusa Maekawa まえかわ あずさ grand prize

ようちゃんの夜 by 前川梓 is introduced as a work shaped by 青春小説, 少女. It presents its subject through a focused literary voice and is connected with the prize history of the work.

A concise entry point into ようちゃんの夜, where the work's central mood and conflict come forward.

187 pages
青春小説少女憧れ感受性
橘夏水 たちばな なつみ excellence award

Go, HOME by 橘奈津美 is introduced as a work shaped by 現代小説, 帰郷. It presents its subject through a focused literary voice and is connected with the prize history of the work.

A concise entry point into Go, HOME, where the work's central mood and conflict come forward.

現代小説帰郷家族居場所
Mahiro Sawaki さわき まひろ excellence award

But Beautiful by 沢木まひろ is introduced as a work shaped by 恋愛, 孤独. It presents its subject through a focused literary voice and is connected with the prize history of the work.

A concise entry point into But Beautiful, where the work's central mood and conflict come forward.

205 pages
恋愛孤独同性愛青年期
中川充 なかがわ みつる editor-in-chief special prize

POKKA POKKA by 中川充 is introduced as a work shaped by 現代小説, メール. It presents its subject through a focused literary voice and is connected with the prize history of the work.

A concise entry point into POKKA POKKA, where the work's central mood and conflict come forward.

200 pages
現代小説メール孤独ユーモア