Japanese Literary Awards

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Shosetsu Gendai Long-form Newcomer Award

しょうせつげんだいちょうへんしんじんしょう

Kodansha-sponsored open call literary prize for long-form newcomer novels, solicited in the magazine Shosetsu Gendai.

NovelLong-formNewcomer
Established
2006
Organizer
Kodansha
Category
General Fiction and Popular Fiction
Selection Method
Open call
Target
Newcomer
Frequency
1 per year
Application Deadline
around July
Announcement Period
around January–February
Status
Active

Description

Relaunched and started in 2006. No genre restrictions. Winners receive a certificate and a total of 3 million yen.

Prize

Main Prize
Certificate and 3 million yen
Cash Prize
3,000,000 JPY

Related Awards

  • List of literary prizes
  • Shosetsu Gendai Newcomer Award
  • Shosetsu Gendai Mystery Newcomer Award
  • List of Japanese novelists

Official Resources

https://tree-novel.com/works/8342d5f08cde27773cc6f65032c7fe9c.html

Past Winners

のざわ きみ award

When the narrator was in eighth grade, aliens arrived on Earth. Having already abandoned language, they cannot communicate with humans, but when they hear a voice — especially a woman's voice — they excrete beautiful stones called "jewels." Fleeing a hometown she despises, the narrator moves to the city and, in exchange for scholarship support, takes a job at an alien shop, reading aloud to the aliens and collecting the jewels they produce. The warmth of her coworker Canaria and a new connection with a kind young man named Ryou-chan color her days, yet her longing for the abandoned hometown only grows. A cruel mother, a grandmother who raised her, bullying classmates, a neighbor woman called Noro-chan — these memories will not let go. When the narrator learns of Noro-chan's death and returns home, she realizes that the city too was never truly the place she yearned for. The next day, she accepts the aliens' invitation to emigrate to their world.

A piercing memoir in search of a place to call home.

320 pages
hometownalienationidentityfamilymigrationscience fictionwomen's voice
まいずみ すみのふ award

Yusuke Ariga, manager of a local supermarket, discovers that his only daughter Kayoko is secretly the magical girl heroine "Kaleid Mercy", fighting against the alien invaders known as "Dislanders". Determined to protect her, he boards the alien spacecraft to negotiate a ceasefire—only to uncover the shocking truth about the Dislanders' true nature. This SF comedy blends the conventions of the hero genre with themes of parental love and the power of dialogue, winning the 20th Shosetsu Gendai Long-Form Newcomer Award.

Mercy, far stronger than any villain, quickly became the people's hero. But when her father discovers the truth, he takes matters into his own hands.

Parental loveDialogue and reconciliationImmigration and refugee issuesScience fictionSuperhero genreComedyNonviolence
あさみや ゆう award

Shinonome, a new employee at C.F.C., a company of funeral professionals, is assigned to the Second Section, a specialized team dedicated to restoring badly damaged remains from accidents, crimes, and suicides. Five morticians, each carrying their own profound grief, devote themselves fully to returning the deceased to a semblance of their former appearance. Confronting death day after day, asking why lives were taken and how survivors can carry on, the team slowly discovers a faint light by which to live tomorrow.

"No matter how hard you think, no matter how hard you search, you will never find the reason a person died."

280 pages
funeral directorloss and recoveryconfronting deathmortuary worklinked short stories
うかい ひなた selection committee special award

One summer night, college student Wakaume is called out to on his way home from a test of courage with friends. "Long time no see, Ume-chan" — it was the voice of his first love Koume, who was supposed to be dead, now inhabiting the body of his friend. Working part-time jobs, attending summer festivals, going on dates — Wakaume and Koume fulfill one small wish after another, as if making up for lost time. Knowing she must eventually return the body, yet unable to stop... The miracle born from a simple wish of "I want to see you again" is not just one. A pure time-limit love story.

"I wonder how long I can borrow this body."

256 pages
first lovespirit possessiontime limitlife and deathreunionsummermiracle
桜井真城 さくらい まき award
312 pages
朝霧咲 あさぎり さき award

A coming-of-age novel centered on Wakana and the shifting atmosphere of a school club and her relationships with her peers in the run-up to graduation.

The pain and brilliance of girls who want to become special before graduation.

200 pages
middle schoolclub activitiescoming of agegraduationfriendship
水庭れん みずにわ れん award

Recently divorced Chiaki meets Nagi Hioki at a cemetery office and, through a mysterious morning glory seed, reconsiders the misalignments in her past and her heart.

A single seed gently realigns the heart.

312 pages
renewalfamilytimemysterious plantwomen
Uno Aoi うの あお award
336 pages
Saeko Jitsuishi みいし さえこ encouragement award
336 pages
Koori Tamagawa たまかわ こうた award
320 pages
仲邑燈 encouragement award
267 pages
Ame Kujirai くじらい あめ award
384 pages
Ayako Paryusu ぱりゅす あやこ award
240 pages
中真大 encouragement award
251 pages
Rinko Kamizu こうづ りんこ award
416 pages
夏原エヰジ encouragement award
272 pages
Daisuke Yoshimori よしもり だいすけ award
288 pages
李周子 encouragement award
261 pages
Yutaka Izumi いずみ ゆたか award
256 pages
城明 encouragement award
253 pages
坂上琴 さかがみ こと award
218 pages
Tamaki Kojima こじま たまき award
331 pages
Hinako Nakazawa なかざわ ひなこ award
372 pages
西田耕二 にしだ こうじ award
284 pages
Hirokage Asakura あさくら ひろかげ encouragement award
272 pages
長浦縁真 ながうら えんしん award
275 pages
Yoshimura Ryuichi よしむら りゅういち encouragement award
212 pages
Takeshi Shiota しおた たけし award
336 pages
Nagaharu Yoshikawa よしかわ えいせい encouragement award
572 pages
Gen Kato かとう げん award
206 pages
Makoto Saiki さいき まこと award
213 pages
Makate Asai あさい まかて encouragement award
253 pages
Tamaki Yamato たまき やまと award
272 pages
火田良子 ひだ りょうこ encouragement award
221 pages
ヴァシィ章絵 ゔぁしい あきえ award
253 pages
Keita Nakaji なかじ けいた encouragement award
291 pages