Set in Kai before Takeda Shingen, this historical novel follows Nobutora Takeda’s half brother and the warrior Hara Toratane as they move through a turbulent age burdened by origin, bloodline, and fate. It combines mountain people, clan politics, and battlefield detail to portray the harsh rise of the Takeda house.

Before Shingen, men who bore the names of tiger and fang shaped the Takeda legend.

This period novel follows Matsunaga Gengo, once known as the fire-devouring bird, as he rises from disillusioned ronin life and regains his pride as a firefighter. With a vivid group of companions, he rebuilds a failing fire brigade and confronts the fires of Edo.

A man who turned away from fire returns to the flames with his comrades.

This award recognizes two period-fiction series by Chino Ryuji: Ore wa Ichimangoku, centered on a young daimyo of a small domain, and Heinosuke Jikentei, set around the workhouse associated with Hasegawa Heizo. The honor is for sustained work across paperback period fiction rather than a single volume.

Two series use small-domain politics and workhouse cases to explore Edo institutions and human feeling.

Nakajima Kaname’s paperback period-fiction series follows Yoichi, a man who handles and restores kimono, and the people around him. Through memories and scars left in garments, the books uncover emotion and mystery in Edo daily life.

A kimono mender quietly unravels the feelings left inside each garment.

Set in early Meiji Hakodate, this story collection depicts people living through the opening of Hokkaido, including Tsuzuki Toyoji, once renowned for Western-style shipbuilding. In the title story, a meeting with a young shipwright rekindles a long-suppressed passion for building ships.

In Hakodate, where traces of Edo remain, an old shipwright feels a lost flame return.

This historical novel follows Yoshifuji, a pupil of Utagawa Kuniyoshi, as he keeps painting through the transition from late Edo to Meiji while struggling with a sense of artistic inadequacy. With Yoshitoshi, Yoshiiku, Kyosai, and other artists around him, it explores the pride invested in toy prints that were easily discarded.

An artist who knows his limits still carves out his path through pictures meant to disappear.

Hayashi Mariko’s novel about the life of Saigo Takamori served as the source for the NHK taiga drama. It follows Kichinosuke from his birth in a poor samurai family in Satsuma through encounters with family, friends, and his lord, emphasizing the human qualities behind his rise to the center of the Meiji Restoration.

A poor boy from Satsuma steps toward the Restoration carrying feeling, loyalty, and duty.