Subaru Literary Award
すばるぶんがくしょう
Shueisha-sponsored open submission newcomers award for pure literature.
- Established
- 1977
- Organizer
- Shueisha
- Category
- Pure Literature
- Selection Method
- Open call
- Target
- Newcomer
- Frequency
- 1 per year
- Application Deadline
- around March
- Announcement Period
- around November
- Status
- Active
Description
The Subaru Literary Award is an open submission newcomers award for pure literature sponsored by Shueisha. The winning work is published in the November issue of the company's literary magazine Subaru, and the winner receives a commemorative item as the main prize and 1,000,000 yen as the special prize.
Prize
- Main Prize
- Commemorative item
- Cash Prize
- 1,000,000 JPY
- Published in the November issue of the literary magazine Subaru
Selection
Selection Process
| Stage | Judges | Pass Rate | Announcement |
|---|---|---|---|
| Preliminary screening | Shueisha editorial department | — | — |
| Final screening | Selection committee | — | Announced in the November issue of the literary magazine Subaru |
Related Awards
- Bungakukai Newcomers Prize
- Gunzō New Writers Prize
- Shinchō Newcomers Award
- Bungei Prize
- Osamu Dazai Prize
Official Resources
https://subaru.shueisha.co.jp/bungakusho/Past Winners
The novel follows Nonaka, who has quit his job after relentless harassment and now lives in near-seclusion, as a strange request from his college friend Shinobu pulls him into a story about not belonging and the shifting distance between friends. Through fighting games, a strip of tape on a vending machine, and bottles of Mountain Dew, it builds a lethargic but quietly urgent everyday world.
As the day of leaving Tokyo draws near, an ordinary life slowly tilts toward something unsettling.
Set in the To-Yoko area of Shinjuku Kabukicho, this novel portrays the emotional turbulence of young people with nowhere to belong and the urgency of trying to survive in a broken city. By linking together fragmentary scenes, it traces the shape of relationships formed amid dependence, violence, and loss.
In a broken city, she still wanted to stay by her side.
An advertising-agency worker on leave reconnects with a childhood acquaintance and is forced to rethink the distance that exists before friendship or romance fully takes shape. Rather than pushing the relationship toward a dramatic resolution, the story quietly follows the awkwardness and uncertainty that remain as he returns to work.
A suspended advertising-agency employee quietly reconsiders the shape of work and relationships after reconnecting with a childhood acquaintance.