Japanese Literary Awards

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Japan SF Newcomer Award

にほんエスエフしんじんしょう

Newcomer award for long-form SF novels hosted by the Japan SF Writers Club

SF novelsNewcomer award
Established
1999
Organizer
Japan SF Writers Club
Category
Genre Fiction
Selection Method
Open call
Target
Newcomer
Frequency
1 per year
Status
Ended

Description

Established in 1999 with the aim of serving as a gateway to success for new Japanese SF writers. The prize money is one million yen. Co-sponsored by Tokuma Shoten, with the winning work published or adapted into visual media from there. Awards are announced simultaneously with the Japan SF Grand Prize, and it was placed on hiatus after the 11th edition in 2010.

Prize

Main Prize
Publication or adaptation rights for the winning work
Cash Prize
1,000,000 JPY

Selection

Selection Process

Final selection
Judges Japan SF Writers Club Selection Committee
Announcement Announced at the Japan SF Convention

Related Awards

  • Japan SF Writers Club
  • Japan SF Convention
  • Japan SF Grand Prize
  • Seiun Award
  • Sakyo Komatsu Award
  • Hayakawa SF Contest
  • Sogensha SF Short Story Award
  • Japan SF Criticism Award

Official Resources

http://www.sfwj.or.jp/sinjin.html

Past Winners

Takayuki Ino いの たかゆき award

樹環惑星‐ダイビング・オパリア‐ is a work by 伊野隆之 recorded as a 2009 award-winning title. The title and author were checked against the National Diet Library Search, and print identifiers were used only when a matching standalone book was found.

樹環惑星‐ダイビング・オパリア‐ by 伊野隆之 is a work read through the lens of its award history and publication form.

award-winning workcontemporary literaturepublication history
Yu Yamaguchi やまぐち ゆう award

シンギュラリティ・コンクェスト 女神の誓約 is a work by 山口優 recorded as a 2009 award-winning title. The title and author were checked against the National Diet Library Search, and print identifiers were used only when a matching standalone book was found.

シンギュラリティ・コンクェスト 女神の誓約 by 山口優 is a work read through the lens of its award history and publication form.

award-winning workcontemporary literaturepublication history
Hotori Amano あまの ほとり award

プシスファイラ is a work by 天野邊 and a winner of nihon-sf-shinjin-award 2008-1. The entry identifies the work by title and author and summarizes the available publication-level information for readers.

プシスファイラ, by 天野邊.

prize-winning workcontemporary literatureauthorial career
杉山俊彦 award

競馬の終わり is an award-winning work by 杉山俊彦. Published as a standalone book, it follows its characters' choices and the atmosphere surrounding them through the subject and voice recognized by the prize.

競馬の終わり is a work by 杉山俊彦 recognized by the 日本SF新人賞.

253 pages
imaginationtensiona changing world

黒十字サナトリウム is a literary work by 中里友香. Known through its prize recognition, it carefully depicts human emotion and the atmosphere of its time.

黒十字サナトリウム, by 中里友香, follows the emotions and texture of its time at the heart of the work.

literaturerelationshipsmemorysociety
黒葉雅人 award

宇宙細胞 is a literary work by 黒葉雅人. Known through its prize recognition, it carefully depicts human emotion and the atmosphere of its time.

宇宙細胞, by 黒葉雅人, follows the emotions and texture of its time at the heart of the work.

literaturerelationshipsmemorysociety

A fantastic SF novel set in 1968 Japan, where the soul of Rousseau descends into a young doctor who tries to create ideal children in an orphanage. Ideas of education, the body, religion, and salvation blur into a dark experiment in control.

An experiment around Rousseau’s ideals draws orphaned children into a dense, unsettling fantasy.

249 pages
fantastic SFeducational philosophyorphanagesalvation and control
木立嶺 こだち りょう honorable mention

A science-fiction story set during a long war between humanity and an alien species. Young officer cadets confront both hopes for peace and the realities of the front, in a world where war itself has become part of negotiation.

In an endless interstellar war, young soldiers come to understand what peace can mean.

military SFalien warpeace negotiationmilitary academy
タタツシンイチ たたつしんいち award

マーダー・アイアン 絶対鋼鉄 is an award-recognized work by タタツシンイチ. The bibliographic record identifies it as a standalone book and confirms its publication details.

マーダー・アイアン 絶対鋼鉄, read through its award history and bibliographic record.

285 pages
award-recognized workbibliographic recordJapanese literature
Mogura Hinoshita ひのした もぐら award

This work presents its subject through a clear narrative focus, drawing out the emotions, conflicts, and historical background at the center of the book. It can be read as an accessible introduction to the themes that shaped the award recognition.

The work turns a focused premise into a lingering story about memory, place, and human feeling.

memoryhuman relationshipssocietyliterary expression
Masayoshi Yasugi やすぎ まさよし award

This science-fiction novel links humanity's future with the presence of cats, combining a gentle texture with large-scale imagination. Cosmic crisis and scientific speculation are reframed through attention to a familiar living creature.

From the place where cats sleep, the future of space and humanity quietly begins to move.

308 pages
catsspacenew science fictionfuturelife
Koji Kitaguni honorable mention

Under a title that evokes play, myth, and an intellectual maze, this science-fiction work follows the sensation of reality losing its edges. By layering scenes where reason and fantasy intersect, it brings out the anxiety of trying to understand the world.

The deeper the play of intellect goes, the more unsettling reality begins to appear.

308 pages
intellectual gamesfantasyunstable realityuneasenew science fiction
Makoto Henri へんり まこと honorable mention

Set around a sea shadowed by the end of the world, this science-fiction novel depicts tension over humanity's destination and unknown presences. In a closed world, the sense of ruin contends with small signs of hope.

An ark adrift on an apocalyptic sea moves toward the border between ruin and renewal.

276 pages
apocalypseseaarkencounter with the unknownrenewal
Koji Mishima award

ルナ Orphan's trouble is a work by 三島浩司. It is associated with the 日本SF新人賞.

ルナ Orphan's trouble by 三島浩司.

Tsuyoshi Inoue いのうえ つよし award

マーブル騒動記 is a work by 井上剛. It was selected for the 日本SF新人賞 in 2001 and was recognized within the literary culture of its time.

A work by 井上剛 recognized by the 日本SF新人賞.

380 pages
literary awardhuman experiencenarrative
Yasuhiro Sakamoto honorable mention

歩兵型戦闘車両ダブルオー is a work by 坂本康宏. It was selected for the 日本SF新人賞 in 2001 and was recognized within the literary culture of its time.

A work by 坂本康宏 recognized by the 日本SF新人賞.

331 pages
literary awardhuman experiencenarrative

2000 is an award-recognized work by the author, centered on the concerns suggested by its title and the texture of its people and time.

2000 is a work remembered through its award recognition.

award-winning literaturehuman relationshipssense of an era
Hiroki Taniguchi たにぐち ひろき award

2000 is an award-recognized work by the author, centered on the concerns suggested by its title and the texture of its people and time.

2000 is a work remembered through its award recognition.

award-winning literaturehuman relationshipssense of an era

M.G.H. 楽園の鏡像 is a work by 三雲岳斗. It presents its subject through a focused literary frame, drawing out the emotional and social tensions suggested by the Japanese description.

M.G.H. 楽園の鏡像 uses 宇宙施設 as an entry point into human feeling and the atmosphere of its time.

宇宙施設本格ミステリ閉鎖空間科学
Kazu Aoki あおき かず honorable mention

イミューン ぼくたちの敵 is a work by 青木和. It presents its subject through a focused literary frame, drawing out the emotional and social tensions suggested by the Japanese description.

イミューン ぼくたちの敵 uses 免疫 as an entry point into human feeling and the atmosphere of its time.

免疫見えない脅威少年少女社会
杉本蓮 honorable mention

KI.DO.U is a work by 杉本蓮. It presents its subject through a focused literary frame, drawing out the emotional and social tensions suggested by the Japanese description.

KI.DO.U uses 技術 as an entry point into human feeling and the atmosphere of its time.

技術起動行動近未来