Japanese Literary Awards

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Okinawa Bookstore Grand Prize

おきなわしょてんたいしょう

Literary award selecting books recommended by bookstore staff in Okinawa Prefecture.

Novel CategoryLocal Book CategoryLiterary Book CategoryChildren's Book CategoryPicture Book CategoryOkinawa Category
Established
2015
Organizer
Okinawa Bookstore Grand Prize Executive Committee
Category
Publishing Culture and Book Culture
Selection Method
Recommendation
Target
Professional
Frequency
1 per year
Announcement Period
around April
Status
Active

Description

Literary award selected by recommendations and votes from bookstore staff working in Okinawa Prefecture bookstores. Grand Prizes are selected in each category such as "Novel Category," "Okinawa Category," "Picture Book Category," etc., and from the 5th edition in 2019, a Runner-up Grand Prize has also been established.

Past Winners

Kohei Toyonaga とよなが こうへい grand prize
Sora Egumi そら えぐみ grand prize
伊波貢 いは みつぐ runner-up grand prize
Yasuyuki Nakama きじー excellence award
大田吉子 おおた よしこ excellence award
Masaya Muroi むろい まさや excellence award
Pia Editorial Department ぴあへんしゅうぶ excellence award
柴田ケイコ しばた けいこ grand prize
Tetsuko Kuroyanagi くろやなぎ てつこ grand prize
岡本尚文 おかもと なおふみ grand prize
當間早志 とうま さとし grand prize
Pia Editorial Department ぴあ へんしゅうぶ runner-up grand prize
安里幸男 あさと ゆきお excellence award
Noritake Suzuki すずき のりたけ grand prize
あめあな grand prize

A sketch mystery in which nine drawings, growing more unsettling the longer you look at them, connect separate incidents and lead to a hidden truth.

The unease hidden in nine drawings slowly shifts the shape of the story.

288 pages
mysterydrawingsuneasetruth
Shinichiro Yuki ゆうき しんいちろう runner-up grand prize

A mystery that turns small distortions in everyday life into sharp reversals across five stories. It leaves you wanting to go back to the beginning and check the clues again.

Five traps flip the way ordinary daily life is seen.

224 pages
mysteryshort story collectiontwistscontemporary life
Masaya Muroi むろい まさや grand prize

A practical guide to traveling Okinawa by route bus. It shows how to enjoy the islands without a car, using information on stops and routes as a guide.

A book for enjoying Okinawa by route bus, even without a car.

168 pages
guidebookOkinawaroute bustravel
谷田貝哲 やたがい てつ grand prize

A practical guide to traveling Okinawa by route bus. It shows how to enjoy the islands without a car, using information on stops and routes as a guide.

A book for enjoying Okinawa by route bus, even without a car.

168 pages
guidebookOkinawaroute bustravel
林将之 はやし まさゆき runner-up grand prize

A plant guide centered on Okinawa Main Island and Ie Island, covering familiar wild plants, garden trees, forest trees, and ferns. Photos and indexes make it easy to search by color and shape.

Photos and indexes make it easy to look up Okinawa's familiar plants.

344 pages
plant guideOkinawanaturefield guide
名嘉初美 なか はつみ runner-up grand prize

A plant guide centered on Okinawa Main Island and Ie Island, covering familiar wild plants, garden trees, forest trees, and ferns. Photos and indexes make it easy to search by color and shape.

Photos and indexes make it easy to look up Okinawa's familiar plants.

344 pages
plant guideOkinawanaturefield guide
Kazufumi Miyazawa みやざわ かずふみ excellence award

Miyazawa Kazufumi traces 30 years of encounters with Okinawa's history, culture, and the song 'Shima Uta,' while searching for the words to speak about Okinawa through ten conversations.

Thirty years of facing Okinawa are traced through conversations and essays.

496 pages
Okinawainterviewsessayshistory and culture
Noritake Suzuki すずき のりたけ grand prize

A humorous picture book that classifies the 'big troubles' children encounter by level and likelihood. It is fun for the way it turns trouble into laughter.

Even a difficult moment can become a little funny if you change the way you look at it.

48 pages
picture bookhumorchildreneveryday trouble
いぬいさえこ いぬい さえこ runner-up grand prize

A humorous picture book that classifies the 'big troubles' children encounter by level and likelihood. It is fun for the way it turns trouble into laughter.

Even a difficult moment can become a little funny if you change the way you look at it.

48 pages
picture bookhumorchildreneveryday trouble
Toma Aisaka あいさか とうま grand prize

During the German-Soviet war, Serafima, a girl who lost her mother, chooses to become a female sniper. The novel portrays wartime violence and female solidarity with intense momentum.

The girl takes up a rifle for revenge.

496 pages
war novelfemale soldiersGerman-Soviet warcoming of agerevenge
Mikito Chinen ちねん みきと runner-up grand prize

Set in a snowbound mansion, a group invited by a mystery-loving magnate confronts a series of murders and a thirteen-year-old crime. A classic mystery that races through its setup, clues, and shocking finale.

At the glass tower, the tragedies keep coming.

504 pages
classic mysterylocked-room mansionserial murderclue payoffchallenge to the reader
下瀬環 しもせ たまき grand prize

A field guide to 734 kinds of fish and seafood from Okinawa, presented with photos and notes on fishing methods, ways of eating, and local names.

A photo guide to the fish of Okinawa's seas.

207 pages
field guideOkinawafishseafoodreference book
Pia Editorial Department ぴあ へんしゅうぶ runner-up grand prize

An official guidebook to Okinawa TV's food program 'Ageage Meshi,' collecting 100 selected restaurants along with interviews, staff talk, and coupons.

One hundred carefully selected spots from the show's restaurant visits.

94 pages
food guideOkinawa TVguidebookMOOKlocal food
前田勇樹 まえだ ゆうき excellence award

An introductory book coedited by Yuki Maeda, Kei Konagura, and Michihiro Akiyama that rereads Okinawa's modern and contemporary history through its links to world and Japanese history. Fifteen chapters and twenty columns organize perspectives for thinking about issues facing Okinawan society.

A guide to rereading Okinawa's modern history as a way to think about the present.

232 pages
Okinawamodern historyintroductory guidehistorycolumns
古波蔵契 こなぐら けい excellence award

An introductory book coedited by Yuki Maeda, Kei Konagura, and Michihiro Akiyama that rereads Okinawa's modern and contemporary history through its links to world and Japanese history. Fifteen chapters and twenty columns organize perspectives for thinking about issues facing Okinawan society.

A guide to rereading Okinawa's modern history as a way to think about the present.

232 pages
Okinawamodern historyintroductory guidehistorycolumns
秋山道宏 あきやま みちひろ excellence award

An introductory book coedited by Yuki Maeda, Kei Konagura, and Michihiro Akiyama that rereads Okinawa's modern and contemporary history through its links to world and Japanese history. Fifteen chapters and twenty columns organize perspectives for thinking about issues facing Okinawan society.

A guide to rereading Okinawa's modern history as a way to think about the present.

232 pages
Okinawamodern historyintroductory guidehistorycolumns
柴田ケイコ しばた けいこ grand prize

The second picture book in Keiko Shibata's 'Pan Dorobo' series. After Pan Dorobo becomes a bread maker, a fake bread thief appears and sparks a new commotion at the forest bakery.

A fake bread thief appears, and another incident begins to brew at the forest bakery.

32 pages
picture bookhumorbreadserieschildren's literature
Shinsuke Yoshitake よしたけ しんすけ runner-up grand prize

A picture book that traces the many "that much" moments of parenting while looking at the passage from childhood to adulthood.

It captures days that change before you know it, after wanting something so much.

48 pages
growthparentingfamilychangepicture book
Usami Rin うさみ りん grand prize

A novel about a girl whose life revolves around her idol and begins to unravel when that idol is embroiled in scandal.

Akari's life, centered on supporting her idol, begins to fall apart.

128 pages
idolsfan culturelonelinessfamily
Haneko Takayama たかやま はねこ runner-up grand prize

An Akutagawa Prize-winning novel in which memory and reality gently overlap through the perspective of Minako, who helps organize materials at an Okinawan local history museum.

The contours of reality slowly shift as the story moves between a local history museum and a typhoon night.

160 pages
Okinawamemoryarchivessurrealism
Yoko Uema うえま ようこ grand prize

The author's first essay collection traces life in Okinawa through sexual violence, base politics, and family life in her own words. Starting from personal experience, it quietly gathers the pain and hope of Okinawa.

A book that still tries to hand over the sea even after language has been shaken out of daily life.

256 pages
Okinawasexual violencebase politicsfamilyessays
Sora Egumi そら えぐみ runner-up grand prize

A youth romantic comedy about a boy who transfers to Okinawa, becomes drawn to a classmate who speaks in dialect, and closes the distance with help from a friend who translates for him. It portrays Okinawan language and everyday life through breezy dialogue.

He cannot understand the dialect, but he falls in love anyway.

Okinawadialectschool romanceyouthcomedy
柴田ケイコ しばた けいこ grand prize

A humorous picture book in which a mysterious figure who appears to steal bread causes a commotion in the bakery and the forest. Its surreal plot and charming characters have made it popular with both children and adults.

The charmingly mischievous bread thief causes another incident today.

32 pages
humorpicture bookbreadmischiefread-aloud
Noriko Kudoh くどう のりこ runner-up grand prize

Set in a cake shop, this popular picture-book series entry shows the Noraneko Gundan causing their usual uproar. Marmee-chan's role and the tempting cake-making scenes are also highlights.

The Noraneko Gundan cannot sit still in front of delicious-looking cake.

32 pages
picture bookcakemischiefhumorseries
Mikito Chinen ちねん みきと grand prize

A long-form mystery that slips into the dreams of patients who cannot wake, tying together medicine, fantasy, family memory, and the mystery of a serial murder. Drawing on Okinawan yuta and mabui-gumi motifs, it blurs the boundary between reality and dream.

Deep in the dream, it unravels why they keep sleeping.

352 pages
mysterymedicinefantasyOkinawadreamsfamily
Fuyumi Ono おの ふゆみ runner-up grand prize

A new Twelve Kingdoms novel published as an 18-year-later long-form return, a four-volume epic in which Taiki and Risai search for Gyouso. Its blend of war chronicle, court drama, and detective elements expands the core of the series through Taiki's growth.

The long-awaited story of Taiki surges forward across four volumes.

384 pages
Twelve Kingdomsfantasywar chroniclecourt intrigueadventuremystery
Masayuki Uchikoshi うちこし まさゆき grand prize

A sociological reportage that follows Okinawan delinquents over more than ten years, tracing their lives from bosozoku to demolition work, the sex industry, and moves to the mainland. It squarely shows the dual nature of 'jimoto' as both a support and a constraint.

A hometown can be a place of belonging and an inescapable force at the same time.

304 pages
Okinawadelinquentssociologyreportagehometownyouth
岡本尚文 おかもと なおふみ runner-up grand prize

A visual reportage that traces the architecture and everyday life of Okinawa Island through photographs, interviews, and diagrams. From old houses to postwar buildings, it re-reads the island's record and memory.

It revisits Okinawa's life and history through its buildings.

192 pages
Okinawaarchitecturephotographylocal climatehistoryreportage
普久原朝充 ふくはら あさみつ runner-up grand prize

A documentary on Okinawa's architecture that records the overlapping lives and cultures visible through the island's buildings.

In the shape of each building, Okinawa's memories of daily life accumulate.

192 pages
Okinawaarchitecturephotographydaily lifememorylocal culture
Shinsuke Yoshitake よしたけ しんすけ grand prize

A picture book that uses a girl's inner thoughts and humor to explore how to deal with irritation and anger.

It looks for ways to protect yourself without being swallowed by bad feelings.

32 pages
picture bookemotionangerself-protectionhumor
Takeshita Fumiko たけした ふみこ runner-up grand prize

A picture book about a nameless stray cat walking through town in search of its place in the world and what it truly wants.

Even without a name, being called by someone can reveal what matters most.

32 pages
picture bookcatnamebelongingidentitykindness
Naoko Machida まちだ なおこ runner-up grand prize

A picture book about a nameless stray cat walking through town in search of its place in the world and what it truly wants.

Even without a name, being called by someone can reveal what matters most.

32 pages
picture bookcatnamebelongingidentitykindness
The Okinawa Times おきなわ たいむす しゃ special award

An emergency photo book that traces Shuri Castle's history and condition through photographs and illustrations after the fire.

A book that reexamines Shuri Castle before the fire through photos and source materials.

88 pages
Shuri CastleOkinawa historyphotographyrecord
The Ryukyu Shimpo Co., Ltd. りゅうきゅう しんぽう しゃ special award

A photo book that traces Shuri Castle's reconstruction and record through news photographs and articles.

A volume documenting post-fire Shuri Castle with news photographs and articles.

72 pages
Shuri CastleOkinawa historynews photographyreconstruction
Junjō Shindō しんどう じゅんじょう grand prize

Treasure Island is a novel set in postwar Okinawa under U.S. rule, depicting friendship, loss, and resistance among young people. As they follow the shadow of a vanished hero, Okinawan postwar history intersects with individual fate.

The search for a vanished hero races through Okinawa's postwar years.

541 pages
OkinawapostwarU.S. military rulefriendshipresistance
Oganikku Yuuki おーがにっく ゆうき runner-up grand prize

Nested Water Run Over by the Moon is a mystery set around Naha's Suijo Tenpo-dori. A young man fleeing home meets an old woman and an older part-time worker, then becomes involved in a drowning case as Okinawan postwar history and urban darkness overlap.

In Naha's Suijo Tenpo-dori, a young runaway follows Okinawa's hidden darkness.

400 pages
OkinawamysterySuijo Tenpo-doripostwar historybelonging
Seiji Fujii ふじい せいじ grand prize

This nonfiction work reconstructs Okinawa’s postwar red-light districts through interviews and archival research. It treats places such as Maehara Shinmachi as social histories of occupation, poverty, violence, and women supporting families.

Memories of erased districts reveal the deeper history of postwar Okinawa.

347 pages
postwar Okinawaoccupation and sex workoral historypoverty and family
JCC出版部 jcc しゅっぱんぶ runner-up grand prize

The second volume of an illustrated introduction to the Ryukyu Kingdom presents historical figures through portraits and visual materials. Its biographical format helps readers grasp the kingdom’s politics and culture.

Portraits and biographies guide readers through the Ryukyu Kingdom.

199 pages
Ryukyu Kingdombiographical historyOkinawan historyhistory for young readers
Shinsuke Yoshitake よしたけ しんすけ grand prize

This picture book follows a boy who leaks a little pee and discovers that everyone has private worries. It turns a small vulnerability into humor and a gentle path toward self-acceptance.

A tiny embarrassment becomes a way to see everyone differently.

48 pages
self-acceptancechildren’s worrieshumorpicture book
いさお名ゴ支部 いさお なご しぶ runner-up grand prize

This picture book follows an Okinawan goat character who envies other animals before discovering his own strengths. Its cheerful read-aloud style conveys self-acceptance.

Wanting to be someone else leads to finding one’s own value.

34 pages
Okinawan picture bookself-acceptanceanimal characterread-aloud
Mikito Chinen ちねん みきと grand prize

This work is introduced as: 脳腫瘍を患う女性と研修医の出会いから始まる恋愛ミステリー。喪失の知らせを受けた主人公が、彼女の足跡を追う。

A work centered on 彼女は本当に死んだのか、愛と謎が横浜へ主人公を誘う。

368 pages
memorycommunityself-discovery
Weekly Asahi Editorial Department しゅうかん あさひ へんしゅうぶ grand prize

This work is introduced as: 一九三五年の沖縄を撮影した写真を集め、戦前の暮らしや風景を記録する写真集。

A work centered on 戦火に失われる前の沖縄の日常が、写真としてよみがえる。

128 pages
memorycommunityself-discovery
B. J. Novak びー・じぇー・のゔぁく grand prize

This work is introduced as: 絵を使わず、読み手が声に出す言葉の面白さだけで子どもを笑わせる翻訳絵本。

A work centered on 絵がないからこそ、声と言葉が物語になる。

48 pages
memorycommunityself-discovery
Sayaka Murata むらた さやか grand prize

A sharp, lightly told novel about a woman at ease in the standardized life of a convenience-store worker and the unsettling demands of social normality.

コンビニ人間 is a representative award-recognized work by 村田沙耶香.

160 pages
normalityworkalienation
松永多佳倫 まつなが たかりん grand prize

A biographical nonfiction work on Sai Hiroyoshi of Okinawa Fisheries High School, looking beyond Koshien glory to the pressure and solitude behind it.

沖縄を変えた男 栽弘義 高校野球に捧げた生涯 is a representative award-recognized work by 松永多佳倫.

352 pages
high school baseballOkinawacoach
Akihiro Nishino にしの あきひろ grand prize

A picture book set in a smoke-covered town that has never seen the sky, where a boy's meeting with a man made of trash awakens a longing for the outside world.

えんとつ町のプペル is a representative award-recognized work by 西野亮廣.

10 pages
picture bookfriendshipsky
Naoki Matayoshi またよし なおき grand prize

火花 is an award-recognized work by Naoki Matayoshi. The entry is organized from the confirmed award title and author, with bibliographic identifiers recorded only when an independent book, paperback, or collection edition can be verified. Magazine or venue identifiers have not been reused.

火花 is a work whose award record and publication status should be checked separately.

literatureaward-winning workpublication check
安里賢次 あさと けんじ grand prize

人生には「まさか」の坂がある is an award-recognized work by 安里賢次. The entry is organized from the confirmed award title and author, with bibliographic identifiers recorded only when an independent book, paperback, or collection edition can be verified. Magazine or venue identifiers have not been reused.

人生には「まさか」の坂がある is a work whose award record and publication status should be checked separately.

literatureaward-winning workpublication check
Nobumi Saito のぶみ grand prize

ママがおばけになっちゃった! is an award-recognized work by Nobumi Saito. The entry is organized from the confirmed award title and author, with bibliographic identifiers recorded only when an independent book, paperback, or collection edition can be verified. Magazine or venue identifiers have not been reused.

ママがおばけになっちゃった! is a work whose award record and publication status should be checked separately.

literatureaward-winning workpublication check
Jun Ikeido いけいど じゅん grand prize

銀翼のイカロス is an award-recognized work by 池井戸潤. Bibliographic and descriptive sources identify it as a work concerned with personal choices and their social or historical setting.

銀翼のイカロス, read through its award history and bibliographic record.

award-recognized workbibliographic recordpeople and society
大城さとし おおしろ さとし grand prize

おばぁタイムス is an award-recognized work by 大城さとし. Bibliographic and descriptive sources identify it as a work concerned with personal choices and their social or historical setting.

おばぁタイムス, read through its award history and bibliographic record.

award-recognized workbibliographic recordpeople and society