Japanese Literary Awards

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Kodansha Children's Literature Newcomer Award こうだんしゃじどうぶんがくしんじんしょう

Edition 61 (2020)

Children's literature

Winners

2 people
中島空 なかじま そら honorable mention

Keiko, a high-school student born in China and raised in Japan, struggles with questions about who she is. Through meeting Kotaro, who teaches Japanese at a voluntary night school, and other young people with Chinese and Vietnamese roots, she reconsiders where she belongs while building friendships across different backgrounds.

A story of a girl navigating different languages and cultures as she searches for a place of her own through friendship.

194 pages
identitymulticultural coexistencelearning Japanesefriendshipbelonging
愛川美也 あいかわ みや honorable mention

Koume, a first-grade girl, has to postpone the Shichi-Go-San celebration she has been looking forward to because of family circumstances. When she follows a black ox at her familiar little shrine, she wanders into a lively otherworld leading to Tenjin and, through a series of encounters, begins to face her own feelings in this children's fantasy.

Led by a black ox, Koume finds a mysterious road that leads to Tenjin.

128 pages
journey to another worldfamilygrowing upShichi-Go-Sana mythic Japanese world