Japanese Literary Awards

← Back to Literary Awards

Shueisha Light Novel Newcomer Award

しゅうえいしゃライトノベルしんじんしょう

A publicly solicited light novel newcomer literary award sponsored by Shueisha.

Light novelNewcomer award
Established
2014
Organizer
Shueisha
Category
Light Novels and Web Literature
Selection Method
Open call
Target
Newcomer
Frequency
1 per year
Application Deadline
around August–September
Announcement Period
around February–March
Status
Active

Description

Succeeded the Super Dash Novel Newcomer Award from 2014, soliciting original long-form light novels primarily targeting male readers from mid-teens to twenties. Held twice a year until the 9th edition, once a year from the 10th edition. From the 12th edition, revamped into a three-division system: Mainstream Division, Genre Division, and IP Novel Division.

Prize

Main Prize
Mainstream Division Grand Prize 3 million yen
Cash Prize
3,000,000 JPY
  • Mainstream Division Gold Prize 500,000 yen
  • Mainstream Division Silver Prize 300,000 yen
  • Encouragement Prize 100,000 yen
  • Judges' Special Prize 100,000 yen
  • Genre Division Selected 300,000 yen
  • Genre Division Honorable Mention 100,000 yen
  • Genre Division Silver Prize 300,000 yen
  • Genre Division Judges' Special Prize 50,000 yen
  • IP Novel Division Selected 100,000 yen (with assigned editor)

Related Awards

  • List of Japanese novelists
  • List of light novel authors
  • Super Dash Novel Newcomer Award

Official Resources

https://dash.shueisha.co.jp/award/

Past Winners

お茶ねこ おちゃねこ selected

Neetrion, who defeated the demon king and became a hero, trains disciples in a deployed, hands-off way through encounters with Iris, a girl who wants to be his apprentice, and the maid Siena.

A hero comedy in which the protagonist wants to avoid work but somehow ends up working more than before.

276 pages
herodisciplescomedyfantasymaster-disciple relationshippost-demon-king world
悦田半次 えつだ はんじ gold prize

Hanji Etsuda's Magia Girl Squad follows Kuu-haku, who borrows Sluice's body after dying and helps Karen become a magical girl to fight an invading otherworldly threat. It is a team battle fantasy with a tokusatsu streak.

Magical girls join forces to fight in a broken world.

328 pages
magical girlsotherworldly threatteam battlestransformationbattleschool
衣太 honorable mention

Gold-prize winner of the 12th Shueisha Light Novel Newcomer Award. Kuu-haku Sashiro dies because of a mistake by the higher being Sluruz, borrows Sluruz's body while his own is repaired, and teams up with his classmate Karen Onodera after she transforms into a magical girl to fight the invading Eternel.

A story about becoming a mascot and helping magical girls save the world.

328 pages
magical girlsbattlefantasyschool settingtransformationteam battlesotherworldly invasion
片沼ほとり かたぬま ほとり selected

A female warrior named Alicia, who is discriminated against in the army, survives the battlefield and then tries to change her life by pretending to be a saint with her old friend Marlene.

Pretend to be a saint and change everything.

308 pages
armydiscriminationsaintimpersonationfriendshipreversalfantasy
selected
一ノ瀬乃一 いちのせ のいち selected

Sphere, a first-year at a magic academy, teams up with Keud, whose power activates when he is mocked like a clown, and faces off against a demon army officer in a reversal fantasy.

A reversal fantasy begins with the strongest clown and a sharp-tongued noblewoman.

280 pages
magic academycursereversalfantasyschool settingduodemon army
及川シノン おいかわ しのん jury special prize

Oikawa Shinon's Isekai Joreishi follows Reiji, a priest whose only usable skill is exorcism, after he is expelled from his party and ends up adventuring with the hero Sephira. It blends banishment-story mechanics with horror-tinged fantasy.

A banished priest faces otherworldly horrors with the power of exorcism.

328 pages
isekaibanishmentexorcismheroadventurehorror
ごんべ jury special prize

悪と徳 is an award-winning work by ごんべ. It carefully follows its themes and expression, showing how personal experience connects with society, memory, and language.

悪と徳 looks closely at the relationship between people and the world with the density expected of an award-winning work.

award-winning workcontemporary literaturememorysocietyexpression
河鍋鹿島 jury special prize

A sword-fighting fantasy with the flavor of an alternate-period tale. A ronin who longs to cross blades with the strong is asked by an elf-like woman to target a master swordsman carrying a magic blade, drawing him into a world crowded with formidable fighters.

An angry tiger roars for battle, and lawless swordsmen cross blades until life itself runs out.

swordplayfantasy period dramamagic bladeoutlawswarriors
常世田健人 jury special prize

The award-winning manuscript Gekijoban Shikakugata Ren'ai Sakugo was published under the title A Plain High School Boy's Popular Phase Has Arrived: Today, for the First Time, I Fell in Love. In a world where people are notified when their lucky period in love begins, a boy who has not yet received that chance struggles toward romance and youth.

Youth will not begin by simply waiting for a lucky moment in love. An unremarkable boy starts running in order to change himself.

264 pages
school rom-comromantic timingself-changeyouthromantic missteps
景詠一 silver prize

幻想の管理人 -盲目の吸血鬼- by 景詠一 is introduced here as the award-recognized work. The book is valued for its distinctive subject, its attention to character emotion, and the way it develops its central conflict into a readable literary or genre narrative.

A concise introduction to 幻想の管理人 -盲目の吸血鬼-, a work shaped by its subject and emotional stakes.

award-recognized workhuman relationshipssocial settingmemorychange
森月真冬 gold prize

エコー・ザ・クラスタ is an award-winning work by 森月真冬. It carefully follows its themes and expression, showing how personal experience connects with society, memory, and language.

エコー・ザ・クラスタ looks closely at the relationship between people and the world with the density expected of an award-winning work.

328 pages
award-winning workcontemporary literaturememorysocietyexpression
神庭武敏 special award

この生まれ変わった世界で by 神庭武敏 is an award-recognized work. The entry focuses on the published work, its author, and the context in which it was selected.

A concise profile of 神庭武敏's この生まれ変わった世界で through its award record.

award-winning workcontemporary literaturebibliographic verification
妹尾尻尾 special award

断界魔装のパラダイム・シフター by 妹尾尻尾 is an award-recognized work. The entry focuses on the published work, its author, and the context in which it was selected.

A concise profile of 妹尾尻尾's 断界魔装のパラダイム・シフター through its award record.

award-winning workcontemporary literaturebibliographic verification
河元崇 special award

カルネアデスリング is a work by 河元崇 associated with the 集英社ライトノベル新人賞. Based on the award record, it is presented as a work that invites readers to follow the intersections of character, period, society, and memory.

カルネアデスリング by 河元崇 is a work whose shape becomes clearer when its award history is read together with bibliographic traces.

award-recognized workpersonal choicessociety and memory
暁一翔 special award

PHANTOM DARK is a work by 暁一翔 associated with the 集英社ライトノベル新人賞. Based on the award record, it is presented as a work that invites readers to follow the intersections of character, period, society, and memory.

PHANTOM DARK by 暁一翔 is a work whose shape becomes clearer when its award history is read together with bibliographic traces.

award-recognized workpersonal choicessociety and memory
伊瀬ネキセ excellence award

閉鎖型エデンのノオト is a work by 伊瀬ネキセ受賞・候補作品。賞の記録で作品名は確認できるが、Amazon JP、NDL OPAC、出版社公式で同名の単行本・文庫・短編集として確実に対応する書誌を確認できなかったため、雑誌号や応募原稿の識別子は採用しない。

Verified information on 閉鎖型エデンのノオト is organized as prize-work data.

prize workbibliographic researchliterary context
河童三郎 special award

棘の忠臣 is a work by 河童三郎受賞・候補作品。賞の記録で作品名は確認できるが、Amazon JP、NDL OPAC、出版社公式で同名の単行本・文庫・短編集として確実に対応する書誌を確認できなかったため、雑誌号や応募原稿の識別子は採用しない。

Verified information on 棘の忠臣 is organized as prize-work data.

prize workbibliographic researchliterary context
間宮真琴 special award

混沌都市の泥棒屋 is a work by 間宮真琴受賞・候補作品。賞の記録で作品名は確認できるが、Amazon JP、NDL OPAC、出版社公式で同名の単行本・文庫・短編集として確実に対応する書誌を確認できなかったため、雑誌号や応募原稿の識別子は採用しない。

Verified information on 混沌都市の泥棒屋 is organized as prize-work data.

prize workbibliographic researchliterary context
大桑康博 special award

An unusual light novel combining sorcery and law, handling supernatural disputes through legal language and negotiation.

呪術法律家ミカヤ is a work by 大桑康博 whose profile can be outlined through award records and bibliographic checks.

312 pages
sorcery and lawaward-recognized workbibliographic check
望月充っ special award

A light novel candidate foregrounding the relationship stated in its long title, built around danger, protection, and comic power dynamics.

Sっ気のある美少女ボディガードを雇ってしまったので、いつも敢えて死にそうな目に遭わされたのちに護られる俺。 is a work by 望月充っ whose profile can be outlined through award records and bibliographic checks.

bodyguard comedyaward-recognized workbibliographic check
紙城境介 excellence award

A fantasy mystery combining witch legends, a locked-room puzzle, and historical secrets, staging a clash between magic and logic.

ウィッチハント・カーテンコール 超歴史的殺人事件 is a work by 紙城境介 whose profile can be outlined through award records and bibliographic checks.

344 pages
magical mysteryaward-recognized workbibliographic check
狗彦 special award

A light novel centered on the image of witches in five colors, drawing together magic, choice, and youthful relationships.

五色の魔女 is a work by 狗彦 whose profile can be outlined through award records and bibliographic checks.

296 pages
witches and coloraward-recognized workbibliographic check