The debut work by Moriyama Sei, born in Osaka Prefecture in 2001, which won the 33rd Matsumoto Seicho Prize. The selection committee consisting of Abe Chisato, Ichiho Michi, Ogawa Tetsushi, Minato Kanae, and Morimi Tomihiko decided to award the prize on April 21, 2026. The detailed synopsis is scheduled to be published in the July/August 2026 issue of All Yomimono.

Set in the Enryaku-ji Temple on Mount Hiei in the late Edo period, this novel follows two Buddhist monks who undertake the grueling Sennichi Kaihogyo, a thousand-day mountain walk where failure means death. Though both master Jisho and disciple Kaien share the same secret of imperial lineage, rather than joining forces, they clash fiercely against each other. A full-scale historical entertainment novel that blends meticulous research into monastic life with raw human emotions of desire for recognition and hatred.

Death or immortality. A blazing human drama of monks who stake their lives on a grueling spiritual ordeal.

A crime novel centered on street art and the mystery surrounding a figure dubbed Japan’s Banksy.

Bombing the city and the urge to write intersect.

Recorded here as a work associated with the 32nd Matsumoto Seicho Prize. No standalone book publication could be confirmed in this pass, so the record remains limited to its status as a candidate work.

A candidate work for the 32nd Matsumoto Seicho Prize.

A youth novel about the stagnation and friendship of girls in a provincial town who grow cannabis on a rooftop.

A rooftop gardening club turns out to be a criminal crew.

A sweeping wuxia novel set in Tang during the An Lushan Rebellion, following siblings who resist destiny.

In war-torn Tang, words and martial arts carve out a destiny.

A historical novel about the era of the Satsuma Rebellion, seen through the eyes of ordinary people in Meiji-era Osaka.

Misfit soldiers struggle to survive on a Meiji battlefield.

A historical novel that depicts East Asia shaken by Hideyoshi's invasion of Korea through three perspectives.

Japan, Korea, and Ryukyu. Three perspectives illuminate an age of invasion.

A historical novel depicting the growth of female students in the Meiji era and the changing times around them.

Under the light of the Rokumeikan, the girls step into a new era.

A magical coming-of-age novel set in a town where time flows backward.

From grave to cradle, time runs in reverse.

A coming-of-age story set on a rooftop, celebrating wind music and youth.

A lonely girl finds music on a rooftop.

A full-fledged science-and-engineering mystery that probes the hidden flaws behind an aircraft accident.

A fighter jet crash is never just a simple pilot error.

Set in wartime Shanghai, this is the story of a zaibatsu heiress who rises to fame as a popular painter.

In glittering Shanghai, scandal and intrigue propel one woman upward.

A fantasy novel set in a world ruled by a clan of yatagarasu, where intrigue swirls around a royal bride selection.

Four princesses compete for the throne of consort.

A historical novel that delicately depicts the human relationships of warrior society, marking the author's return to fiction.

Under the white oak, the lives and feelings of a warrior household are carefully drawn out.

A historical novel portraying the life of Miguel de Chijiwa between persecution and faith.

Why did the apostate envoy choose to survive?

A suspenseful novel set in the city, where crime and human relationships intertwine.

Dangerous schemes collide around a former sex worker released from prison.

An Edo-period story of a magistrate's aide who loves growing morning glories, mixing human warmth with a mystery.

A constable's humble dream is shaken by the politics of Edo.

A historical novel that traces the fates of two samurai through a friendship and rivalry that began in boyhood.

Two samurai who grew up together cross paths with fate once again.

A contemporary mystery in which an insurance investigator doggedly pursues the truth behind a death that may have been an accident or a suicide.

Was the elderly man killed by a train in an accident, or by suicide?

A period novel set in late-Bakumatsu Osaka, following a father-son case involving a single-sheet print.

A single print awakens the mystery behind a father's death.

A historical novel about the building of Azuchi Castle, where craft, ambition, and power collide.

An unprecedented tale of castle construction that gives shape to Nobunaga's dream.

A historical courtroom novel about a land dispute and legal proceedings in a medieval village.

A court case that determines a village's fate draws in resentment and revenge.

ファルナースに捧ぐ is recorded as a candidate work for the 2003th Matsumoto Seicho Award. In this pass, no standalone book publication could be confirmed.

Recorded as a candidate work.

雪の黒白 is recorded as a candidate work for the 2003th Matsumoto Seicho Award. In this pass, no standalone book publication could be confirmed.

Recorded as a candidate work.

火縄銃 is recorded as a candidate work for the 2003th Matsumoto Seicho Award. In this pass, no standalone book publication could be confirmed.

Recorded as a candidate work.

A historical novel about Ihara Saikaku that blends fact and fiction to portray a person and an era.

What did Saikaku really write? A historical mystery of fact and fiction.

毒婦伝説 is recorded as a candidate work for the 2002th Matsumoto Seicho Award. In this pass, no standalone book publication could be confirmed.

Recorded as a candidate work.

ハーフ・ムーン is recorded as a candidate work for the 2002th Matsumoto Seicho Award. In this pass, no standalone book publication could be confirmed.

Recorded as a candidate work.

長安の古文書 is recorded as a candidate work for the 2002th Matsumoto Seicho Award. In this pass, no standalone book publication could be confirmed.

Recorded as a candidate work.

A long novel set from the Taisho era into the early Showa period, blending human relationships with a crime mystery.

Like a flock of butterflies, secrets and mysteries cross the sky.

異植 is recorded as a candidate work for the 2001th Matsumoto Seicho Award. In this pass, no standalone book publication could be confirmed.

Recorded as a candidate work.

蒼火 is recorded as a candidate work for the 2001th Matsumoto Seicho Award. In this pass, no standalone book publication could be confirmed.

Recorded as a candidate work.

Xの恋人 is recorded as a candidate work for the 2001th Matsumoto Seicho Award. In this pass, no standalone book publication could be confirmed.

Recorded as a candidate work.

A horror-leaning mystery that ties together Shinjuku, Shin-Okubo, Niigata, and Ibaraki through resentment and revenge.

Urban and regional memories chain together into a cycle of resentment.

ペルソナたちの夏 is recorded as a candidate work for the 2000th Matsumoto Seicho Award. In this pass, no standalone book publication could be confirmed.

Recorded as a candidate work.

緑の剣 is recorded as a candidate work for the 2000th Matsumoto Seicho Award. In this pass, no standalone book publication could be confirmed.

Recorded as a candidate work.

曠野の涯て is recorded as a candidate work for the 2000th Matsumoto Seicho Award. In this pass, no standalone book publication could be confirmed.

Recorded as a candidate work.

A historical novel about the young years of ukiyo-e artist Tsukioka Yoshitoshi, centered on a fateful encounter with a black-hooded man.

A portrait of the youthful days of the brilliant and tormented ukiyo-e artist Yoshitoshi.

夢の男 is recorded as a candidate work for the 1999th Matsumoto Seicho Award. In this pass, no standalone book publication could be confirmed.

Recorded as a candidate work.

汚れた白衣 is recorded as a candidate work for the 1999th Matsumoto Seicho Award. In this pass, no standalone book publication could be confirmed.

Recorded as a candidate work.

朱い渦 is recorded as a candidate work for the 1999th Matsumoto Seicho Award. In this pass, no standalone book publication could be confirmed.

Recorded as a candidate work.

A long novel that layers forgery and the shadow of a case around the world of art. Against a backdrop of provincial life and the art world, it traces the instability of truth and memory.

The authenticity of a painting unsettles the authenticity of the story itself.

A general-interest book with the same title exists, but no standalone book corresponding to the award-winning work could be confirmed. Amazon JP, NDL OPAC, and the publisher’s official site were checked, but the bibliographic record could not be pinned down.

No standalone book was confirmed.

A work rooted in Tohoku folk customs and rituals. It uses local tradition as a guide to probe the memory shared by people and land.

The voice of the ritual chant brings the land’s memory to life.

A book with the same title exists in another field, but no standalone book corresponding to the award-winning work could be confirmed. Amazon JP, NDL OPAC, and the publisher’s official site were checked, but the bibliographic record could not be fixed.

No standalone book for the award-winning work was confirmed.

A suspense novel built around さざんか, where unease and tension steadily build.

Unease steadily tightens its grip on the story.

A short story that looks at the pain and bonds that remain through the hardening and fraying of human relationships.

The harder something is, the deeper the cracks run.

This work is recorded as a finalist for the 2nd Seicho Matsumoto Award. No standalone book edition has been confirmed.

A period-fiction piece preserved as a finalist entry.

影踏み is recorded as a prize work, but no standalone book publication could be confirmed.

Details about 影踏み remain in award records.

A suspense novel built around 寒月, where unease and tension steadily build.

Unease steadily tightens its grip on the story.

A short story that captures the violence and hunger hidden inside people from an allegorical distance.

A horror as if people could devour one another quietly draws near.

A period-piece award winner about three mountain hunters who kill an enemy without knowing that their side has already surrendered.

The three men move forward unaware that the war has already changed, leaving a quiet afterimage.

A historical novel that uses 穴惑い to trace human motives amid the currents of its era.

Human choices rise into view against the era’s atmosphere.

A story included in the short-story collection "Yami no Taimatsu," set in the Sengoku period and focused on the fates and tensions of warriors.

A blade carves sorrow into the world.

This work is recorded as a finalist for the 1st Seicho Matsumoto Award. No standalone book edition has been confirmed.

A period-mystery piece preserved as a finalist entry.

キャデイヴァー・ドナー is recorded as a prize work, but no standalone book publication could be confirmed.

Details about キャデイヴァー・ドナー remain in award records.

A suspense novel built around 昏い通路, where unease and tension steadily build.

Unease steadily tightens its grip on the story.

A short story that traces the distance from the past through faded memory and the pain of looking back.

The past can only return through a sepia-colored gaze.