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Kono Mystery ga Sugoi! Grand Award

このミステリーがすごい! たいしょう

Public rookie award for mystery novels established in 2002, leveraging the fame of “Kono Mystery ga Sugoi!”.

Mystery novelsBroadly defined mystery
Established
2002
Organizer
Takarajimasha
Category
Genre Fiction
Selection Method
Open call
Target
Newcomer
Frequency
1 per year
Application Deadline
around May–June
Announcement Period
around October
Status
Active

Description

Primarily emphasizing mystery elements and targeting a wide range of genres such as SF novels and historical novels, it aims to discover new writers. The first round uses paper media, while second round and beyond use storage media such as floppy disks or CD-Rs. It features unique systems like “Hidden Gem,” and winning works are published by Takarajimasha, with many becoming bestsellers or adapted into films.

Prize

Main Prize
Grand Prize: 12 million yen prize money, Bunko Grand Prix (Excellent Award): 2 million yen prize money, Editorial Recommendation Award “Hidden Gem”
Cash Prize
12,000,000 JPY
  • Bunko Grand Prix 2 million yen
  • Editorial Recommendation Award “Hidden Gem”

Selection

Selection Process

First Round
Judges Sugie Shōren, Zenjo Yoshizō, Koyama Yūki, Murakami Takafumi, Kitahara Naohiko (from 5th-), Udagawa Takuya (from 8th-), Fukui Kenta (from 8th-), Tsuchiya Bunpei (from 11th-)
Second Round
Judges Chigai Akino, Murakami Takafumi, Ōmori Nozomi (from 16th-), Chaki Norio (1st-15th)
Final Round
Judges Ōmori Nozomi, Kōyama Nijirō, Takii Asayo (from 19th-), Chaki Norio (1st-15th), Yoshino Jin (1st-18th)

Criteria

  • Broadly defined mystery with entertainment value as the top priority
  • Originality of setting
  • Distinctiveness in character design

Application Tips

Dos

  • エンターテイメント性を重視し、設定やキャラクターに個性を持たせる
  • 募集要項の記載に従い、適切なメディアで応募する

Don''ts

  • 減点方式を意識せず、独創性に欠ける作品を避ける

From Judges

  • 設定やキャラクター造形での個性を重視する
  • エンターテイメントを第一義とする

Related Awards

  • “Kono Light Novel ga Sugoi!” Grand Award
  • Japan Love Story Grand Prize
  • “Kono Manga ga Sugoi!” Grand Award

Official Resources

https://konomys.jp/

Past Winners

いぬまる こうへい grand prize

Beijing, 1920. Ichi-jo Go, an eighteen-year-old Japanese painter living in China, is hired as a teacher of ink painting for Puyi, the last emperor of the Qing Dynasty, a fifteen-year-old boy confined to the Forbidden City. Puyi secretly plans to replace the Forbidden City's ink masterpieces with forgeries and sell the originals to fund the restoration of the Qing. When a eunuch is found dead in a locked room, a dragon painting is mysteriously altered, and another eunuch loses all emotional expression, the young painter and the boy emperor join forces to unravel each enigma. As they solve the mysteries together, an unlikely friendship blossoms across all barriers of rank and nationality.

A historical mystery that transcends rank and nationality. A painter and an emperor confront the riddles hidden within the Forbidden City.

352 pages
historical mysterymodern Chinese historylate Qing Dynastylocked-room murderfriendshipcoming-of-ageforgeryForbidden CityPuyi
ししま ゆうのすけ bunko grand prix

In a provincial hot spring town, women have been disappearing one after another, and a local urban legend takes hold: a monster with a gaping hole in its face is abducting people and swallowing them into the void. Private detective Honoka Takanashi is hired to investigate the creature called "Anadura-sama," and begins to suspect a serial killer lurking behind the myth. Meanwhile, the actual perpetrator faces an unforeseen complication: the yakuza have learned of the crimes and intend to exploit the killer as a corpse-disposal service. A crime novel that blends horror urban legend with mystery, building to a shocking twist.

A monster with a hole where its face should be is stealing people away -- and behind the urban legend lurks a real killer.

384 pages
urban legendmysteryhorrordetectiveserial killerplot twistprovincial city
みやじま あけみち bunko grand prix

A rookie detective at Koganei Police Station, Midori Bamba, investigates a theft at a video arcade while arresting two young women for a series of car break-ins. Meanwhile, corrupt detective Tadayuki Kamei leaks information about a raid on an illegal establishment. The story interweaves Midori's coming-of-age as a detective determined to protect the dignity of victimized women with Kamei's downfall into corruption, building to a dramatic intersection at the climax.

An enthusiastic rookie female detective and a world-weary veteran corrupt detective — a refreshing police procedural in which the trajectories of two contrasting investigators dramatically intersect at the climax.

1 pages
police proceduraldetectivecorruptioncoming-of-agesexual victimizationmystery
土屋うさぎ つちや うさぎ grand prize

Koharu Ichikura, a first-year university student aspiring to become a manga artist, works part-time at a bakery called Nostimo in Toyonaka, Osaka. One day, her best friend abruptly cancels plans they had made together, prompting Koharu to use her sharp powers of observation to uncover the truth. A linked collection of five cozy mysteries set in and around a neighborhood bakery, featuring no deaths and a warm, slice-of-life atmosphere.

Mysteries layered like croissants, as exciting as curry bread!

256 pages
cozy mysterylinked short storiesbakerycoming-of-agehuman relationshipsOsaka
松下龍之介 まつした りゅうのすけ bunko grand prix

A 200-year-old skeleton excavated in the Himalayas. When Nanase Yu, a graduate student specializing in genetic anthropology, conducts a DNA analysis, the results completely match those of his sister Aju, who went missing four years ago. Just as he is about to consult his supervisor Professor Ishimizaki about this inexplicable finding, the professor is murdered. The ancient skeleton is stolen and a member of the excavation team is attacked. As Yu pursues the truth behind his sister's disappearance and the skeleton's DNA, he is drawn into a massive conspiracy involving religious groups and pharmaceutical companies that could shake the very foundations of human history.

The compelling mystery and storytelling stand head and shoulders above the rest.

384 pages
genetic anthropologycloning technologydisappearanceconspiracyfamilyscience and ethicsHimalayasDNA mystery
入夏紫音 いりなつ しおん dark horse

The 23rd Kono Mystery ga Sugoi! Award Hidden Gem Selection. High school student Furukawa lives in the Nanakusa dormitory at Mikohama High School. Together with his curious and kind-hearted classmate Ninose, he encounters a series of everyday mysteries: an umbrella left at a laundromat after a typhoon, a club application signed by someone deceased, an ice-cream-wielding thief, and a time capsule hidden in the dormitory. As they solve these puzzles, Furukawa is gradually led to confront his own past in this coming-of-age mystery story collection.

An umbrella left at a laundromat after a typhoon -- through unraveling mysteries, Furukawa gradually confronts his own past.

384 pages
everyday mysterycoming-of-ageschool dormitorymystery solvingromantic comedyfriendshipself-discovery
君野新汰 きみの あらた dark horse

Set in 16th-century Holy Roman Empire, former law professor Rosen encounters a witch trial while traveling. Convinced of the innocence of a girl named Ann accused of using sorcery to kill a watermill manager, Rosen challenges the witch trial with logic and legal reasoning. A legal mystery about the power of reason against superstition.

Prove the absence of a witch -- a 16th-century legal suspense where logic clashes with faith.

384 pages
witch triallegal mysterymedievalHoly Roman Empirewrongful accusationreligion and sciencelogic versus superstition
白川尚史 しらかわ なおふみ grand prize

Seti, a priest resurrected in ancient Egypt, pursues the mystery of his own death and the truth behind a king's mummy that vanished from a sealed chamber.

Seti, a resurrected priest in ancient Egypt, investigates his death and a king's mummy that vanished from a sealed chamber.

328 pages
ancient Egyptlocked roommystery
遠藤かたる えんどう かたる bunko grand prix

Baby Starlight, a three-member female underground idol group active in Osaka, is already struggling with an overbearing agency president, unequal popularity among its members, and abuse suffered by its center. When one member kills someone at the agency, the three decide to bury the body in the mountains to conceal the crime.

A nonstop suspense novel about a three-member underground idol group caught between ruin and the stage after burying a body to hide a killing.

336 pages
Underground idolsOsakaConcealing a murderFriendshipSuspense
浅瀬明 あさせ あきら bunko grand prix

A university student nearing graduation tries to expose corruption in a campus society run on points and becomes caught in a vast scheme.

A university student nearing graduation tries to expose corruption in a campus society run on points and becomes caught in a vast scheme.

288 pages
universitycorruptionconfidence game
新藤元気 しんどう げんき dark horse

Kumagai of a special investigation unit examines an almost completely burned children's home in Ebina with Koharu Kuryu of the forensic science laboratory's physics section. The fire is found to have been caused by a carelessly discarded cigarette, but it was put out by a missing boy, Nozomu Tachibana, and what appears to be his suicide note is found. Believing Nozomu is alive, Koharu and Kumagai use forensic science to trace him.

A mystery in which a forensic scientist and a detective use scientific investigation to uncover the truth behind a fire at a children's home and a missing boy.

336 pages
Forensic scienceAccidental fireMissing personChildren's homePolice mystery
上田春雨 うえだ はるさめ dark horse

Minato, a high-school student in a town in Hokkaido, has a hostile relationship with her stepmother and pursues compensated dating to become independent. One day, her friend Asuka receives a message telling her to die from Miho, a middle-school friend who died in an accident. After Asuka soon dies tragically, Minato investigates the chain of deaths and the truth behind Miho's death.

A coming-of-age mystery in which a high-school student pursues the truth behind a chain of deaths that begins with a message from the dead.

320 pages
High-school studentsHokkaidoSocial mediaPeer pressureChain of deaths
Masateru Konishi こにし まさてる grand prize

A grandfather with Lewy body dementia brilliantly solves the puzzles brought to him by his granddaughter. A winner of the 21st “This Mystery Is Amazing!” Award where everyday mysteries meet family warmth.

A grandfather with dementia becomes an armchair detective and delivers sharp deductions about impossible crimes.

352 pages
MysteryFamilyDementiaLinked stories
美原さつき みはら さつき bunko grand prix

Set in the forests of Congo, a primatology research team is drawn into a massacre after meeting a boy. A paperback grand-prize winner that unfolds as a panic-suspense story questioning the essence of humanity.

What is a human being? A high-energy challenge to the question of humanity’s essence.

384 pages
PanicPrimatologySuspenseCongo
Oginuma Ma X おぎぬま えっくす dark horse

A young man working for a local hero company pursues the truth behind a string of murders committed by someone dressed like the Machiderman suit. A hidden-gem winner in the “This Mystery Is Amazing!” lineup that blends hero culture and crime suspense.

The killer wears a hero suit that had once been shelved.

384 pages
Local heroesSerial murderSuspenseTokyo
南原詠 なんばら えい grand prize

A legal mystery in which patent attorney Miki Taiho uses her expertise and forceful negotiation skills in patent disputes. To protect a popular virtual streamer, she confronts competing corporate interests around alleged patent infringement.

Armed with patent rules, a patent attorney enters a dispute surrounding a virtual streamer.

267 pages
legal mysterypatent attorneypatentsvirtual streamerscorporate conflict
鴨崎暖炉 かもさき だんろ bunko grand prix

In Japan, a legal precedent holds that proving a room was locked has the same value as proving absence from a crime scene, so a locked room guarantees acquittal and locked-room murders have proliferated. At Setsuhakukan, a snowbound hotel left by a famous mystery writer, a locked-room murder occurs; after the only bridge collapses, repeated killings leave strange playing cards beside the bodies.

A traditional mystery that solves a series of locked-room murders at an isolated snowbound hotel in a society where a locked room means acquittal.

416 pages
Locked-room murderClosed circleSnowbound mansionPlaying cardsHigh-school detective
秋尾秋 あきお あき dark horse

In a world where a special power can temporarily revive the dead, a mystery follows the mutilated body of a murdered girl, damaged beyond revival. The central question is why she was killed again.

Why was the girl killed again?

368 pages
speculative mysteryrevivalgifted peoplebody mutilationlinked incidents
烏丸尚奇 dark horse

Karasuma, a failed novelist making a living as a biographer, is asked to write the life of corporate founder Nampei Miyama. Investigating the Miyama family, whose misfortunes include a wife's suicide, a younger daughter's disappearance, and an elder daughter's vegetative state, he discovers the violent behavior of the younger daughter, known as the Witch of Chonomori, and a basement bearing traces of confinement and torture.

A mystery about a biographer investigating a family haunted by misfortune, drawn toward a sinister basement and a new murder.

288 pages
BiographersFamily secretsBasementsCursesMurder
柊悠羅 dark horse

A contemporary suspense novel in which a coded note found during an online class leads to 300 million yen, threats, and then a kidnapping. Japanese-language teacher Yukako and her partner pursue the truth while pursued by money and danger.

Three hundred million yen arrived. An email from Bocchan demands its return.

256 pages
contemporary suspensekidnapping300 million yenonline classescrime drama
本江ユキ dark horse

Yukako, a non-regular Japanese-language teacher, notices an encoded note on the desk of a Chinese exchange student known as “Botchan” during an online class. Testing it with her freeter boyfriend Keiji, she accesses an online bank account and they steal 300,000 yen from its 300-million-yen balance. Days later, 300 million yen in cash arrives at Yukako's apartment, followed by Botchan's demand for its return and news that a friend's fiancée has been abducted.

A crime mystery in which 300,000 yen stolen from an exchange student turns into 300 million yen in cash and a kidnapping.

288 pages
KidnappingRansomOnline classesWealth disparityCrime
新川帆立 しんかわ ほたて grand prize

A strange will pulls attorney Reiko Kenmochi into a huge inheritance dispute. With a forceful heroine and brisk dialogue, this legal mystery keeps the pages turning.

"My entire fortune goes to the person who killed me."

336 pages
inheritance disputelegal mysteryfemale lawyerhumorseries fiction
亀野仁 bunko grand prix

Set in a Japan split into multiple administrative zones after annexation by a neighboring country, the novel follows Yuka and intelligence officer Saiga as they flee from a kidnapping plot. It is a near-future action mystery with a distinctly dystopian edge.

A chase races across a divided Japan.

384 pages
dystopianear futureescape thrillerpolitical suspenseintelligence agencyaction
平居紀一 ひらい きいち bunko grand prix

A Yakuza underling, the family running an auto-parts shop, and a girl tied to a religious group intersect around a single kidnapping case. The novel combines ensemble drama and a con-game structure in an abduction mystery.

Separate threads finally connect in a sweetly unsettling way.

416 pages
ensemble dramakidnapping mysterycon gamefamilyreligionsuspense
東一眞 dark horse

A rookie reporter at the Yomiuri Shimbun’s social affairs desk investigates abnormal crow behavior and the possibility of bird flu. The novel turns a contemporary newsroom perspective into a bio-suspense mystery.

The crows attack. The reporter gives chase.

352 pages
bio-suspensejournalistcrowsvirussocial thrillermodern mystery
高野結史 dark horse

Makabe Ten, a misanthropic forensic pathologist, confronts the darkness surrounding child abuse cases and then a hanging corpse case that echoes his own past. The novel explores both forensic science and the psychology of family trauma.

A man who has spent his life looking at corpses is forced to face family darkness.

288 pages
forensic medicinechild abusefamilypast traumasuspenseinvestigation
冴内城人 dark horse

After giving up on becoming a botanist, a young man named Taiki meets Aoba, a girl who can hear the voices of plants, at a flower shop called Driad. Together they face memories tied to a sacred tree and the mysteries of the land. The novel has a quiet, gentle tone.

The voices of plants begin to speak of lost memories.

288 pages
linked mysteryplantsrural landscapehuman dramamemorycomfort reading
阿部考二 dark horse

A company that has made side hustles mandatory becomes the scene of a presidential murder, and the head of the side-business promotion department teams up with a customer support manager to deal with the crisis. It is a corporate comedy mystery built around workplace dynamics.

Both work and crime keep multiplying like side jobs.

288 pages
corporate mysterycomedyside jobsoffice politicshuman relationssuspense
歌田年 grand prize

The protagonist, Watanabe, can distinguish genuine paper from fakes and teams up with model maker Doi to investigate a case tied to paper and scale models. The appeal lies in how expertise about paper and craftsmanship becomes integral to the shape of the mystery itself.

The paper already knows the truth behind the case.

315 pages
classic mysterypaper authenticationplastic modelscraftsmanshipproblem solving
朝永理人 excellence award

During a school festival, a strangled body is found in a haunted house, and the case is narrowed down through careful reconstruction of the timeline. This is a logical school-set mystery focused on the instant when a ghost act turns into a real murder.

When did the ghost on stage become a real corpse?

384 pages
school mysteryfair-play detectiontimeline analysisfestival settingcoming-of-age
貴戸湊太 U-NEXT / Kantele Award

At Yurigahara High School, a first-year student named Yuriko is drawn into a series of disturbing events tied to the school legend of the "Yuriko-sama." The novel blends urban legend, horror, and murder into a tense school mystery.

Only one girl can become Yuriko-sama. If there are two, one must disappear.

336 pages
school mysteryurban legendhorrorgirls’ schoolserial murder
久真瀬敏也 dark horse

An introverted writer and his childhood friend travel through Kyushu tracing a new theory that connects kappa legends with hidden Christian history. The novel gradually turns local folklore and memory into a larger historical mystery.

The secret behind a kappa’s hand overturns historical common sense.

320 pages
historical mysteryfolklorehidden ChristiansKyushukappa legendfield investigation
藍沢今日 dark horse

The story begins with an attack on an elementary school in Osaka and follows a police officer named Natsuki as he investigates unnatural murders caused by an invisible giant paper dog. It is a dark horror-suspense novel centered on events beyond scientific explanation.

An invisible monster is devouring the city.

320 pages
horror suspensethe supernaturalpolice investigationgoreurban disaster
倉井眉介 grand prize

A psychological thriller centered on a series of monster-like crimes and a psychological battle over the identity of the culprit.

How human is the lumberjack monster?

320 pages
psychological thrillerserial crimesmonsterpsychological battlesuspense
井上ねこ excellence award

A seventy-one-year-old woman is murdered in Nagoya, with a shogi pawn beside her body and a silver general in her pocket. As older people are killed in succession and shogi pieces are left at every scene, detectives Mizushina and Sada pursue the unexpected connection among the victims and the pattern indicated by the pieces.

A police mystery in which detectives read a killer's design through a series of murders of older people and shogi pieces left at the scenes.

286 pages
ShogiSerial murderPolice investigationNagoyaShogi mating puzzles
登美丘丈 U-NEXT / Kantele Award

A suspense novel about an unnamed man's revenge and the logic of the criminal underworld.

Revenge begins after a name is abandoned.

282 pages
revenge dramacriminal underworldsuspensedramaaction
黒川慈雨 dark horse

Sunta Uesugi, formerly the number-one host known as Seiya Sumeragi, becomes a first-grade elementary-school teacher. When a series of incidents involving injured plants and animals begins to affect the school, a pupil in his class named Gift emerges as a suspect.

A school mystery about a former host turned elementary-school teacher confronting local incidents alongside children with distinctive names.

335 pages
Elementary schoolSchool mysteryAnimal crueltyUnconventional namesHuman drama
越尾圭 dark horse

A twisty classic mystery that pursues a case steeped in poison.

Like a snake without a tail, the truth cannot be grasped.

415 pages
classic mysterycrimeinvestigationpoisonsuspense
猫森夏希 dark horse

Returning to his hometown for a wake, Ryuichi Yahiro is asked by a girl named Kuon to tell her about her uncle. As an elementary-school student, a rumor that a body lay beneath a crape myrtle tree led Ryuichi to meet Ryohei Watarase, the fifteenth head of a detective agency founded in the Edo period. Together with transfer student Yukiko Kitagawa, they become involved in a series of cases.

A coming-of-age mystery in which memories of schooldays and the fifteenth head of a detective agency connect to a present-day question.

319 pages
Coming of ageSchool mysteryDetective agencyMemoryFriendship
日部星花 ひべ せいか dark horse

A journal written by second-year high-school student Shuji Doi records an inexplicable return from July 17 to July 8. Believing the loop is connected to the death of the school's most admired girl, Momoka Watanabe, who fell down a staircase, Doi investigates why she died while questioning the urban legend of a magician.

A school mystery in which a student investigates a girl's death as time appears to run backward.

277 pages
Time loopHigh schoolFatal fallUrban legendsPsychological mystery
蒼井碧 grand prize

A poor university student, Suigetsu Otori, meets Shinya Kojo, a man with an identical face and build. Together with Kojo, a self-styled OOPArt appraiser, Otori investigates a series of murders connected to enigmatic artifacts, including an archaeologist's body surrounded by crystal skulls and a golden space shuttle that vanishes from a locked room.

A traditional mystery in which an identical-looking pair confronts impossible artifacts and locked-room murders.

309 pages
OOPArtsArchaeologyLocked-room murderSerial murderTraditional mystery
田村和大 excellence award

A police mystery that follows an apparently impossible incident involving DNA through methodical investigation.

Follow the chain of reasoning and the truth comes into view.

295 pages
police fictionDNAinvestigationcrimesuspense
くろきすがや excellence award

A bio-suspense novel that uncovers a terrifying truth through an investigation into a strange tomato disease.

The circle of infection spreads in unseen places.

334 pages
bio-suspenseinfectionstrange diseaseinvestigationhorror
宮ヶ瀬水 dark horse

Sekiguchi Ran, a university student unable to contradict other people, is asked by first-year middle-school student Anju Ito to help stop her reincarnations; she claims to remember her two former lives. When they visit the family home of Anju's earlier incarnation, Momoko Kamiyama, a poltergeist occurs and the household head is found poisoned the next morning, with Momoko's signature left at the scene.

A traditional mystery in which a reincarnated girl and a university student pursue the link between a murder more than thirty years ago and a present-day poisoning.

331 pages
ReincarnationGhostsPoisoningMemoryTraditional mystery
福田悠 dark horse

At Tokubei Nagaya in Edo's Honjo district, people believe that the doll known as Morisama can grant wishes for vengeance. As murders occur across the town, constable Jinhachi investigates with his sister Oshino and childhood friend Yanagijiro, drawing on memories from his own childhood to uncover the truth.

An Edo-period mystery in which a constable pursues the truth behind serial murders linked to a doll said to avenge grudges.

267 pages
Edo periodSerial murderThe supernaturalDollsHuman drama
岩木一麻 grand prize

A medical mystery in which a doctor notices something unnatural about cancer patients' complete remissions and investigates suspected life-insurance fraud.

What happened to the patients who were supposed to be cured?

380 pages
Medical mysteryInsurance payoutsInvestigationDoctorsSuspense
三好昌子 excellence award

In Kyoto during the Tenmei era of the Edo period, Owa, the only daughter of the employment agency Enmiya, learns of a family curse: its daughters bear no sons and die at twenty-six. When the ascetic Kaien takes charge of a temple connected to Enmiya, Owa confronts the curse's origin and the history hidden within her family.

A historical mystery in which a daughter bound by a curse and a mysterious ascetic pursue the source of an old Kyoto entanglement.

406 pages
Kyoto in the Edo periodFamily curseHuman connectionsMountain asceticSupernatural historical fiction
柏木伸介 excellence award

A police suspense novel in which a prefectural police foreign-affairs division confronts an international conspiracy and a chain of incidents.

The foreign-affairs division's investigation crosses national borders.

462 pages
police fictionforeign-affairs divisioninternational crimesuspenseinvestigation
志駕晃 dark horse

A cyber suspense novel in which a lost smartphone leads to leaked personal data and a series of incidents.

Just losing it can destroy everyday life.

403 pages
suspensesmartphonespersonal datalinked incidentscontemporary crime
桐山徹也 dark horse

Machida Shun is told that he can nullify psychic powers and is abducted by armed people who claim to be psychics. After his life is spared, he begins working for an organization that investigates paranormal phenomena and becomes entangled in a bizarre series of murders.

A mystery in which a young man who nullifies psychic powers is drawn into a bizarre series of murders.

330 pages
Psychic powersSerial murderParanormal phenomenaOrganizationsMystery
綾見洋介 dark horse

University student Shiraki visits the remote Hokkaido station of Higashi-Obitai to meet Haru, a friend of his late mother. He learns that Haru vanished after a murder thirty years earlier, then becomes entangled in the disappearance of the only witness and rumors of hidden funds in the area.

An adventure suspense novel that follows a past murder and vanished people from a deserted remote station in Hokkaido.

335 pages
HokkaidoLocal railwayRemote stationPast murderTreasure hunt
村上暢 super dark horse

A mystery about a murder in a sealed-off hotel and the distortions in human relationships.

On a night with no escape, the mystery deepens.

382 pages
closed circlemurderhotelsuspensehuman relationships
田中静人 super dark horse

A coming-of-age mystery marked by loss, bringing together a corpse and the strange motif of an unfamiliar sky.

A cheerful corpse brings with it a mystery of the sky.

314 pages
coming-of-age mysterylosscorpsepsychologymystery solving
春畑行成 super dark horse

When Misaki Oda, the Miss Campus at his university, is abducted, Takagi is visited by Hana, a girl from sixty years in the future. Told that he and Misaki are destined to be murdered, he uses future investigation records to try to prevent the crime.

A time-travel mystery in which a man relies on future investigation records to change his fate of being murdered.

350 pages
Time travelThe futureAbductionInvestigationSuspense
一色さゆり grand prize

An art suspense novel about a reclusive contemporary artist, the death of a gallerist, and the fate of a masterpiece worth over 600 million yen.

A new kind of art-market suspense.

315 pages
contemporary artart marketgalleristmysterysuspense
城山真一 しろやま しんいち grand prize

A financial suspense novel set in Kanazawa, where a stock-trading genius known as the 'Black Venus' draws a former banker into a high-stakes battle.

A genius who turns psychology into profit.

389 pages
financial suspenseinvestingKanazawabankingpsychology
大津光央 excellence award

A baseball mystery in which a writer interviews people connected to a legendary pitcher who died amid match-fixing rumors.

A dark cloud over baseball.

313 pages
baseballmatch-fixingbiographyinvestigationmystery
才羽楽 dark horse

A bittersweet romance mystery in which a young man falls in love with Hana, the girl who suddenly appears at his apartment, only to discover hidden secrets.

A sweet romance with an unexpected plan.

344 pages
romancecohabitationsecretillnesstwist
枝松蛍 dark horse

A dark twist mystery about a high school girl who plans a mass murder after surviving abuse at the hands of her stepfather.

A high school girl plans mass murder.

285 pages
revengemass murdertraumablack twistsuspense
降田天 ふるた てん grand prize

A school mystery centered on the clash between Maki, who reigns as the classroom queen, and Erika, the transfer student who threatens her position.

The queen never comes back.

317 pages
schoolsocial hierarchygirlspower struggletwist
辻堂ゆめ つじどうゆめ excellence award

A suspense novel in which a popular singer wakes up with no memory and discovers that the world believes she has died.

Why is my death on the news?

491 pages
amnesiaentertainment industryidentitydeath mysterysuspense
神家正成 excellence award

A PKO mystery set in a South Sudan camp, where a near-retirement warrant officer and a young sergeant investigate a string of thefts and missing ammunition.

Forty-two rifle rounds vanished from a locked space.

391 pages
Self-Defense ForcesSouth SudanPKOtheftmystery
山本巧次 やまもと こうじ dark horse

A historical mystery in which an ex-OL living between Edo and the present day uses modern science to solve crimes.

Scientific detection in Edo, with a double life.

414 pages
Edoforensic sciencehistorical mysterydouble lifeinvestigation
加藤鉄児 dark horse

A black-comedy action mystery in which assassins compete over the murder of a mayoral candidate.

The assassins' mayoral election begins.

367 pages
assassinsmayoral electionblack comedycompetitionsuspense
梶永正史 grand prize

A police mystery in which Ayaka Goma, nicknamed the 'calculator woman' for her obsession with numbers, is put in charge of a bank hostage crisis.

A special order lands on the calculator woman.

343 pages
policewhite-collar crimehostage crisisfemale detectivesuspense
八木圭一 excellence award

A social thriller in which a man protesting youth burdens and fiscal deficits becomes entangled in the kidnapping of a former prime minister's grandson and a ransom demand of one quadrillion yen.

The demand: a rewrite of the national debt, or one quadrillion yen.

349 pages
politicspublic debtkidnappingsocial thrillersuspense
越谷友華 dark horse

An impossible-crime mystery in which a present-day boy's death appears linked to a case from 16 years earlier, challenging a seemingly airtight alibi.

Was the killer already in prison?

376 pages
impossible crimealibiDNA evidenceserial casesinvestigation
影山匙 dark horse

A thief mystery in which four childhood friends, now split between the police and burglary, reunite in their hometown and pursue the truth behind a death.

Even a thief can solve a mystery.

382 pages
thievespolicechildhood friendshometownmystery
安生正 grand prize

A large-scale panic thriller in which a defense officer and an infectious-disease expert investigate the total death of a drilling base off Hokkaido.

Everyone is dead. The cause is unknown.

409 pages
panic thrillerinfectionSelf-Defense ForcesHokkaidosuspense
新藤卓広 excellence award

A humor mystery in which a shut-in young man lands a job in a secret society and discovers how its odd assignments connect to real crimes.

The job offer came from a secret society.

349 pages
secret societyemploymenthumorkidnappingmystery
柊サナカ dark horse

A survival mystery set on a remote island, where selected women compete for the role of an IT tycoon's bride.

There is no loser revival in this marriage hunt.

329 pages
marriage huntislandsurvivalwomenmystery
あいま祐樹 dark horse

A psychometric mystery in which a high school girl who can read residual thoughts teams up with a psychologist to solve a series of kidnappings.

Listen to the voice left at the crime scene.

313 pages
psychometrypsychologykidnappingschoolinvestigation
Kazuhiro Hosaka ほさか かずひろ grand prize

A lawyer-narrator confronts a mother-and-child murder case and a medical malpractice case while questioning the uneasy relationship between the courts and prosecutors in this courtroom mystery.

A lawyer-detective cuts through the collusion between law and prosecution.

381 pages
courtroomjustice systemlawyermedical malpracticemystery
Hitsuji Tomoi ともい ひつじ excellence award

A middle-school boy decides to sue his father in civil court after suspecting him of killing the family dog, pursuing the truth behind a family rupture.

A boy takes his own father to court.

308 pages
familycourtroomanimal crueltycoming-of-agetruth
Takuma Okazaki おかざき たくま dark horse

Set in Kyoto's coffee shop Talleyran, this linked mystery follows barista Misa Kirima as she solves everyday mysteries with sharp observation.

A barista whose hobby is solving mysteries.

365 pages
everyday mysterycoffee shopKyotobaristacoming-of-age
Jun Yagaki やぎき じゅん dark horse

In a mountain village in Aomori, a voyeuristic detective with compulsive peeking tendencies tackles a series of murders at the snowbound Kagome-so inn.

A detective who cannot help but peek.

408 pages
rural villagetabooserial murdervoyeurismmystery
Kotaro Horiuchi ほりうち こたろう dark horse

A psycho-suspense novel about a serial killer called 'Mori no Kuma-san' who publicly targets villains exposed on the internet.

A killer arrives while singing a nursery rhyme.

317 pages
serial killerinternet crimevigilantismsuspensenursery rhyme
Masahiro Shinohara しのはら まさひろ dark horse

A school mystery in which a school nurse and an art teacher investigate the culprit behind a grotesque murder painting displayed in a high school hallway.

Leave the school case to the nurse.

367 pages
schoolteacherartcrime at schoolmystery
Inui Ryokuro いぬい りょくろう grand prize

A manga artist who keeps speaking with her brother in a vegetative state is pulled into a distortion of reality after a mysterious phone call. It is a debut novel with unsettling mechanics hidden under a quiet surface.

The more she asks, the more reality bends.

305 pages
psychologysynesthesiamedicinetruth-seekingdebut novel
Kiku Kita きた きく excellence award

A graduate student in organic chemistry loses his special ability when he falls in love and ends up at the mercy of a being who calls itself a death god. It is a light romantic mystery that layers chemistry, love, and puzzle-solving.

A death god reaches out to a science-minded man who has fallen in love.

305 pages
chemistryromancesciencemysteryromcom
Taro Soshirou たろう そうしろう grand prize

A protagonist’s life begins to go off course after he takes in an abandoned child, leading to ostracism and bullying. It is a work that foregrounds raw violence and the feeling of escape.

A child he takes in upends his life.

309 pages
violenceescapevillage societyyouthcrime
Shichiri Nakayama なかやま しちり grand prize

A girl badly scarred in a fire vows to return and become a pianist. It is a music mystery where passion for performance intersects with a string of unsettling events.

Beyond Debussy’s melodies, the shadow of a case creeps in.

367 pages
musiccomebackmysteryfiresuspense
Keichi Kaya かこや けいち excellence award

A man who sells pachislot strategy information on the industry’s dark side gets caught up in dangerous code-breaking and a case involving hidden sales money. It is a crime novel about small-time bad actors.

Illegal ROMs and coded clues expose a dangerous money trail.

373 pages
pachislotcodescrimeillegal ROMssmall-time crooks
Yuta Takahashi たかはし ゆうた dark horse

Shukichi, who works in Honjo-Fukagawa, teams up with the fox spirit Osaki to investigate a missing girl and a murder case. It is the first entry in a series that blends yokai-period drama with genuine mystery solving.

Osaki and Shukichi run through the darkness of Edo.

283 pages
Edoyokaimysteryperiod dramaseries
Yoshi Nanao ななお よし dark horse

The story follows an eerie urban legend in which anyone targeted by a killer dies in an accident within 24 hours. It is a mystery where lightness and danger coexist, even down to the infamous banana peel.

A man targeted by a grim reaper cannot escape the 24-hour countdown to an accidental death.

349 pages
grim reaperurban legendmysteryaccidental deathhumor
Takamitsu Yamashita やました たかみつ grand prize

High school students who love rooftops gather and take on incidents happening at school and in the city. It is a brisk ensemble mystery that blends youthful energy with puzzle-solving.

Four members of the rooftop club dive into the city’s mysteries.

381 pages
youthrooftop clubschoolmysteryfriendship
Yuko Yuzuki ゆづき ゆうこ grand prize

Through dialogues between a young man with synesthesia and a clinical psychologist, the story approaches the truth behind a girl’s death. It is a debut novel where quiet narration accumulates into strong unease and mystery.

A young man who can see emotions as colors brings the truth of a girl’s death to the surface.

341 pages
psychologysynesthesiamedicinetruth-seekingdebut novel
Iku Tooyama とうやま いく excellence award

A children’s poisoning case from 30 years ago is revisited through testimony and the memories of those involved. It is a crime suspense story where past guilt and present scrutiny intersect.

The 30-year-old case keeps changing shape as testimony is traced.

365 pages
case reviewpoisoningtestimonycrimefamily
Kei Nakamura なかむら けい excellence award WEB readers prize

While following the disappearance of a spiritual writer, strange wounds and testimony from psychics connect into a deeper world of fate and entanglement. It blends urban legend with suspense.

Beyond the missing writer, ghosts and fate intersect.

415 pages
disappearancepsychic powersfatehorrorsuspense
Takumi Tsukasa たくみ つかさ grand prize

A chef in Kobe meets a critic with extraordinary taste and gets pulled into a plot that shakes the gourmet world. It is an unusual mystery where culinary flair and criminal intrigue coexist.

Behind gourmet culture, a dangerous plan begins to move.

343 pages
cookingcrimegourmet worldnoirscheme
桂修司 かつら しゅうじ excellence award

A series of mysterious deaths in a northern prison triggers a story in which modern events overlap with the history of Hokkaido’s Meiji-era development, widening the circle of a curse. It is a richly textured historical-fantasy horror novel.

Deaths bound by chains echo the darkness of the Meiji era.

375 pages
historical fantasyhorrorprisonHokkaidocurse
Fuko Morikawa もりかわ ふうこ dark horse

A girl who lost her mother in an accident becomes entangled in an unsettling series of events with her father and a woman named Mizuno. It is a suspense novel suffused with loss and flight.

Night begins with no way out, while the shadow of one hundred million yen hangs over everyone.

383 pages
familydisappearanceescapecrimesuspense
Jun Izono いぞの じゅん grand prize

A major event begins in which participants must infiltrate a laboratory protected by the latest security systems and complete a mission within a time limit. It is a suspense novel that foregrounds the excitement of an intrusion game.

Break into an impregnable laboratory and win 100 million yen.

333 pages
infiltration gamesuspensehigh-techheistteam competition
Toshiya Masuda ますだ としや excellence award

In freezing Hokkaido, a giant bear that failed to hibernate attacks people. It is an animal-panic novel about the terror of an isolated research forest.

In a forest at minus 40 degrees, a giant bear corners human beings.

347 pages
animal panicsurvivalHokkaidoterrorisolation
Seishi Takayama たかやま せいし excellence award

A candidate and a former detective investigate the truth behind schemes and sabotage surrounding a by-election. It is a suspense novel about the heat and intrigue of an election race.

Behind the vote count, motives and schemes quietly intertwine.

345 pages
electionconspiracysuspensepoliticsinvestigation
Takeru Kaidou かいどう たける grand prize

Doctors and bureaucrats work to uncover the truth behind unexplained intraoperative deaths in a cardiac surgery team. It is a medical mystery that balances realism in the hospital setting with the pleasures of detection.

Behind the glory of the Batista procedure lies another face.

375 pages
medicinemysteryhospitalinternal investigationsurgery
Miiko Mizuta みずた みいこ special encouragement award

A murder clown appears at a class reunion on a remote island and attacks the attendees one after another. It is a survival horror story that fully exploits the unease of an isolated island.

The reunion turns into an island of terror when a murder clown bursts in.

253 pages
remote islandhorrorclass reunionserial murdersurvival
Akio Fukamachi ふかまち あきお grand prize

A former detective searching for his missing daughter plunges into a darkness tied to past bullying and a corporate scandal. It is a dark, emotionally charged novel that faces the abyss head-on.

The more he searches for his daughter, the deeper he moves into the darkness.

413 pages
disappearancefamilyrevengecorporate intriguedark obsession
Mizuhara Shusaku みずはら しゅうさく excellence award

A left-handed pitcher fighting alone inside a popular pro baseball team gets caught up in a bizarre blackmail case. It is sports noir where team culture collides with personal pride.

Off the mound, the team’s darkness closes in quietly.

349 pages
baseballblackmailnoirteam politicssuspense
Kei Yanagihara やなぎはら けい grand prize

A surrogate mother steps into crime to save her abused son, and the story develops into a zero-ransom kidnapping plot. It is a thrilling crime novel that exposes social distortions.

No ransom, five hundred million yen to be taken.

343 pages
kidnappingsurrogacycrimefamilysocial issues
Hasebe Bakushin-o はせべ ばくしんおー excellence award

A man who sells slot-machine “tips” is dragged into dangerous money and tangled relationships on the dark side of the pachislot industry. It is a pachislot noir that mixes lightness with a cold undercurrent.

A man selling fake strategies falls into the world of illegal ROMs and dark money.

356 pages
pachislotcrimenoirfraudunderworld
Takuya Asakura あさくら たくや gold prize

A girl with a brain injury and a young man whose path as a pianist was cut short meet at a mountain clinic and experience a mysterious four-day event. It is a moving fantasy about healing and renewal.

At a mountain clinic, a miracle begins quietly over four days.

421 pages
renewalhealingmusicfamilymiracle
東山彰良 ひがしやま あきよし silver prize

Set in a near-future prison facility, this is an escape drama about running toward freedom from a world said to be impossible to escape. Violence and oppression force impossible choices on the characters.

If they flee, it will be freedom or blindness.

435 pages
prison breaknear futureviolencefreedomdystopia
式田ティエン しきだ てぃえん excellence award

To uncover the truth behind his father’s sudden death, the protagonist goes undercover at a seaside club. Diving, corporate scandal, and rumors of regenerative medicine intertwine in a suspense novel.

On the Shonan coast, the truth behind his father’s death gradually surfaces.

421 pages
suspensedivingcorporate intriguefamilytruth-seeking
Nobuyuki Jokou じょうこう のぶゆき dark horse

Two college women trapped in a mountain hot spring resort try to escape with nothing but their mobile phones. It is a horror-suspense story driven by confinement and momentum.

All they can rely on is a phone. Can they escape the mountain village alive?

550 pages
horrorsuspenselocked-room tensionmobile phonesescape