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Subaru Critique Award

すばるくりてぃーくしょう

A newcomer award for criticism sponsored by Shueisha.

Criticism
Established
2017
Organizer
Shueisha
Category
Criticism and Critical Writing
Selection Method
Open call
Target
Newcomer
Frequency
1 per year
Status
Ended

Description

The Subaru Critique Award is a newcomer award for criticism sponsored by Shueisha, established in 2017, with the first winning work announced in the February 2018 issue. Deadline is August 31 every year. It was suspended after the 5th edition in 2022.

Selection

Selection Process

Final selection
Judges Nobuaki Osawa, Shunsuke Sugita, Yosuke Hamazaki, (Guest) Takeshi Nakajima (1st–3rd), (Guest) Takehiro Ueda (4th–5th)
Announcement Published in Subaru February issue

Related Awards

  • Subaru Literary Award
  • Gunzo Newcomer Criticism Award
  • Mita Literature Newcomer Award (Criticism Category)
  • Japanese SF Criticism Award
  • Sogen Mystery Criticism Award
  • Modern Tanka Criticism Award
  • Modern Haiku Criticism Award
  • Japan Children's Literature Association Criticism Newcomer Award

Official Resources

https://subaru.shueisha.co.jp/critique/

Past Winners

鴇田義晴 とびた よしはる award

A critical essay that starts from Murasaki Byakuro and rereads 1990s shock and bad-taste subculture alongside the ethics of the pre-internet era. It redraws the outline of the period from the dark side of subculture.

It redraws the era from the dark side of shock subculture.

criticismMurasaki Byakurosubcultureethicsinternet
荒川求実 あらかわ もとみ honorable mention

A critical essay that uses the work of film director Kobayashi Masaki as a starting point to consider how the subject is formed and how it faces the world.

It considers what it means to forge the self through film criticism.

criticismKobayashi Masakisubjectivityfilmethics
西村紗知 にしむら さち award

A critical essay that uses Shiina Ringo's songs and statements to examine how the image of motherhood functions in contemporary popular culture. It sharply probes the meeting point of J-pop and social consciousness.

It reconsiders the contours of motherhood through musical expression.

criticismShiina RingomotherhoodJ-poppopular culture
No winner
赤井浩太 あかい こうた award

A critical essay that treats Japanese rap as an object of literary and cultural criticism, connecting it with the critical perspective of Masaaki Hiraoka. It won the 2019 Subaru Critique Award as an essay published in the monthly literary magazine Subaru.

It rereads Japanese rap through the critical lineage of Masaaki Hiraoka.

music criticismJapanese rapMasaaki Hiraokaliterary criticismSubaru Critique Award
Yoichi Chikamoto ちかもと よういち award

A critical essay on Kenzo Tange, public space, monumentality, and Japanese modernity. No book edition could be confirmed.

A critical essay on Kenzo Tange, public space, monumentality, and Japanese modernity.

建築批評日本近代丹下健三
奥憲介 おく けんすけ honorable mention

A critical essay that rereads Takeshi Kaiko through distance, reportage, travel, and postwar literature. No book edition could be confirmed.

A critical essay that rereads Takeshi Kaiko through distance, reportage, travel, and postwar literature.

文芸批評開高健戦後文学
冨田涼介 とみた りょうすけ honorable mention

A critical essay on 2.5-dimensional performance, spectatorship, bodies, and character representation. No book edition could be confirmed.

A critical essay on 2.

2.5次元サブカルチャー演劇批評