Japanese Literary Awards

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Okinawa Bookstore Grand Prize おきなわしょてんたいしょう

Edition 5 (2019)

Novel CategoryLocal Book CategoryLiterary Book CategoryChildren's Book CategoryPicture Book CategoryOkinawa Category

Winners

6 people
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