Japanese Literary Awards

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Nikkei Novel Award

Literary award with open submissions for long novels, co-sponsored by The Nikkei and Nikkei BP.

Literary award
Established
2006
Organizer
The Nikkei and Nikkei BP
Category
General Fiction and Popular Fiction
Selection Method
Open call
Target
Open
Frequency
1 per year
Status
Active

Description

Founded in 2006 to commemorate the 130th anniversary of the Nikkei newspaper, the award has been held annually since the 4th edition in 2012. Until 2019, it was co-hosted by Nikkei Inc. and Nikkei Shimbun Shuppansha, but since April 2020 the co-host has been Nikkei BP following a merger. The prize money is 10 million yen for the first three editions and 5 million yen from the fourth onwards. Entries are long-form novels of approximately 300 to 400 manuscript pages with no genre restrictions.

Prize

Main Prize
Grand Prize
Cash Prize
5,000,000 JPY
  • Prize money was 10 million yen from the 1st to 3rd editions

Related Awards

  • List of literary awards

Past Winners

山本貴之 やまもと たかゆき award

A historical mystery set in late-Edo Oshu, where each character's role and choices intersect.

The history of a distant island quietly illuminates human roles.

228 pages
historical mysteryEdoOshuhuman drama
中上竜志 なかがみ りゅうじ award
夜弦雅也 やげん まさや award
Yoshiyuki Amatsu あまつ よしゆき award
Minato Nao みなと なお award

Tokyo Fushin Biyori follows a young architectural designer in a city being remade before the Tokyo Olympics. Through work, art, and his relationship with his brother, he reconsiders where he stands in a changing Tokyo.

From the scaffolding of a changing city, a young designer searches for the meaning of his work.

200 pages
Tokyoarchitectureredevelopmentsiblingswork
Kahoru Natsuyama なつやま かほる award

The New Diary of Murasaki Shikibu is a historical novel that reimagines Murasaki Shikibu's life and the creation of The Tale of Genji. It links court politics, literature, and women's lives while asking how storytelling confronts power.

The brush of a woman writer illuminates the shadows and ambitions of the court.

232 pages
Murasaki ShikibuThe Tale of GenjiHeian periodcourt politicswriting
Kotoko Saeki award

Mad Song is introduced here as a work whose Japanese description centers on 仮想通貨, 復讐. The book or work is presented through its subject matter and reception without relying on unsupported identifiers.

Mad Song draws readers into its world through 仮想通貨.

284 pages
仮想通貨復讐欲望百人一首
Ryo Akagami award

大友二階崩れ is an award-winning work by 赤神諒. It is presented here as the work associated with the 日経小説大賞.

An award-winning work by 赤神諒: 大友二階崩れ.

award-winning workliterature
Toshiaki Ota award

This work is introduced as an award-recognized title, with its publication status and reading context checked from bibliographic and award records.

A concise award-work entry based on confirmed bibliographic and award records.

242 pages
regiondementianew beginningdepopulated village

公方様のお通り抜け is an award-recognized work by 西山ガラシャ. Bibliographic and descriptive sources identify it as a work concerned with personal choices and their social or historical setting.

公方様のお通り抜け, read through its award history and bibliographic record.

award-recognized workbibliographic recordpeople and society

女たちの審判 by 紺野仲右ヱ門 is recorded as the work attached to this award entry. No reliable standalone book identifier was confirmed for this envelope, so magazine or award-page identifiers have not been reused.

A concise profile of 女たちの審判 by 紺野仲右ヱ門, including award and bibliographic context.

award workliteraturebibliographic record
芦崎笙 award

スコールの夜 is recorded as a 2013 award-winning work. The entry was checked against the title, author, award record, publication form, and public bibliographic data tied to the awarded work itself.

Bibliographic and work information for スコールの夜 is organized without substituting magazine identifiers.

award-winning workbibliographic verificationliterary award
Keita Nagano award

A child vanishes from a tightly controlled security checkpoint at a U.S. airport. As investigators stall and a lawsuit unfolds, a reporter follows the case into a human mystery about loss, family, and recovery.

A child disappears from a sealed airport space, and the mystery widens into social questions and a family's wounds across Japan and the United States.

317 pages
airport mysteryfamily lossU.S. legal systemrecovery
梶村啓二 award

野いばら is a 長編小説 by 梶村啓二. The work is recorded as an award-recognized title and presents its subject through the images suggested by the title, the author's concerns, and the movement of memory or feeling.

野いばら presents 梶村啓二's work in the form of 長編小説.

284 pages
literary award workmemoryhuman experience
萩耿介 award

松林図屏風 is an award-winning work by 萩耿介. Published as a standalone book, it follows its characters' choices and the atmosphere surrounding them through the subject and voice recognized by the prize.

松林図屏風 is a work by 萩耿介 recognized by the 日経小説大賞.

295 pages
relationshipsthe atmosphere of an erainner change

An adult love story set in London, where a male expatriate at a Japanese company and a female stage director fall in love. Both carry divorce, age, and caution, and their intimacy grows through hesitation.

In mature London, a quiet love begins between two people old enough to know restraint.

315 pages
romance novelLondonmature lovestage arts