Funahashi Seiichi Literary Award
ふなはしせいいちぶんがくしょう
A literary award targeting novels established by Hikone City in 2007.
- Established
- 2007
- Organizer
- Hikone City
- Category
- General Fiction and Popular Fiction
- Selection Method
- Open call
- Target
- Professional
- Frequency
- 1 per year
- Announcement Period
- around October–December
- Status
- Active
Description
Established by Hikone City in 2007 to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the construction of Hikone Castle and to promote culture, this literary award targets outstanding novels newly published as single-volume books during the year.
Selection
Selection Process
| Stage | Judges | Pass Rate | Announcement |
|---|---|---|---|
| Selection | Selection committee | — | — |
Criteria
- Must be a novel published as a single volume.
- Must be a work published in the applicable year.
Related Awards
- Funahashi Seiichi Commemoration Literature Encouragement Award
- Funahashi Seiichi Commemoration Youth Literature Award
Official Resources
https://library.city.hikone.shiga.jp/?page_id=57Past Winners
A long novel that layers the memory of a land shaped by fire and human activity, sustaining narrative tension throughout. Folk-inflected atmosphere meets a contemporary style.
The memory of fire left in the land quietly presses on the characters’ lives.
A historical novel following the life of Koraku Matsuemon through the development of the Maedani sail that transformed Edo maritime transport.
One sail changes the course of the sea.
A linked historical novel set around a refuge temple, tracing people’s troubles and salvation.
From the voices of those who knock on the gate, the pain of the era rises.
Gainamon: The Life of Takeshiro Matsuura is a historical novel about the explorer known for naming Hokkaido. Framed as the elderly Matsuura recounting his past to Kawanabe Kyosai's daughter, it brings out his Ezo surveys, his view of the Ainu, and the upheavals of the Bakumatsu and Meiji eras.
The northern land and the distortions of an era seen by the extraordinary Takeshiro Matsuura.
"Seiya Koko" is a historical novel by Kazuichi Iijima, completed after nine years of work and awarded the 12th Funahashi Seiichi Literary Award. Through the life of Sawase Jingoro, a horse handler from Mikawa who is drawn into Tokugawa service, exile, trade routes through Sakai, Satsuma, Hakata, and Luzon, and Hideyoshi's invasion of Korea, the novel portrays a conscience that refuses to yield to power.
Like navigating by the stars, Sawase Jingoro moves through an age of upheaval without losing sight of his conscience.
This historical short story collection portrays merchants, artisans, actors, and ordinary townspeople in Edo with humor and pathos. Across eight stories, including the title story, festivals, trades, romance, and everyday troubles bring the city vividly to life.
Edo is filled with people who laugh, weep, work, and live through the day even when life is poor.
本懐に候 is an award-recognized work by 山本音也. This record separates the work's award identity from any bibliographic identifiers that could not be confirmed for a standalone book edition.
本懐に候 by 山本音也 is a work to revisit through the context of its award recognition.
戦国大名・宇喜多直家をめぐる謀略と情念を、周囲の人物の視点から浮かび上がらせる時代小説集。表題作は嫁がされた娘の視点から、権力と家の残酷さを描く。
捨て駒にされた女性の眼差しから、戦国の非情が立ち上がる。
加賀開港始末 is an award-recognized work by 谷甲州. The bibliographic review is based on the title recorded in the award data and keeps publication identifiers separate from magazine or submission records.
A work recorded as an award-recognized title by 谷甲州.
Nagasaki's history and dreams shape the story like a kingdom of their own.
Nagasaki's history and dreams shape the story like a kingdom of their own.
This collection of historical stories follows the hidden tales behind six suits of armor. From Ii clan red armor to Western armor brought from Korea and a monkey's armor preserved in Izushi, the book evokes human memory and historical shadows behind martial objects.
Armor begins to speak not only of battlefields but of human obsession and sorrow.
Baku Yumemakura’s Oedo Chokyakuden is a historical novel set in Genroku-era Edo, following fishing-obsessed samurai, artists, and poets as the muddy world of angling opens onto history, desire, the Ako incident, and a great earthquake.
Beyond the fishing line, the waters reflect Genroku Edo and human obsession.
Tenchi Meisatsu is a 歴史小説 by 冲方丁. It draws readers into its world through choices made by the characters, shifting relationships, and tension within each scene.
Tenchi Meisatsu is a focused award-related work with a clear shape as 歴史小説.
A novel about people who live through trade, portraying desire, resourcefulness, and lives rooted in place. With Shoichi Nejime's energetic voice, it brings work and survival together.
商人 is shaped by the premise and narrative voice that supported its award recognition.
柳生大戦争 is a work by 荒山徹. It approaches its subject through historical fiction, Yagyu clan, and its award recognition reflects the force and focus of its language.
柳生大戦争 condenses its central concerns into a compact, memorable literary form.
A historical novel set in the upheaval of the late Edo period, portraying a man who refuses to dissolve into the crowd and lives by his own code. Sword skill, solitude, and defiant pride are rendered in a hard-edged style.
A historical novel set in the upheaval of the late Edo period, portraying a man who refuses to dissolve into the crowd and lives by his own code.