Watanabe Junichi Literary Award
わたなべじゅんいちぶんがくしょう
Literary award honoring the achievements of Junichi Watanabe, targeting novel works written in Japanese.
- Established
- 2016
- Organizer
- Shueisha, Ichitsubashi Sogo Foundation
- Category
- General Fiction and Popular Fiction
- Selection Method
- Open call
- Target
- Professional
- Frequency
- 1 per year
- Announcement Period
- around April–May
- Status
- Active
Description
Sponsored by Shueisha Co., Ltd. and Ichitsubashi Sogo Foundation, this award recognizes Japanese novel works with rich narrative that delves deeply into human psychology, transcending the boundaries of pure and popular literature. The first edition was held in 2016, with winners receiving a commemorative item as the main prize and 2 million yen as a special prize. Winning works are published in the magazines 'Subaru' and 'Shosetsu Subaru'.
Prize
- Main Prize
- Commemorative item (main prize)
- Cash Prize
- 2,000,000 JPY
Selection
Selection Process
| Stage | Judges | Pass Rate | Announcement |
|---|---|---|---|
| Final selection | Judges (e.g., Jiro Asada, Mariiko Koike, Nobuko Takagi, Teruyuki Miyamoto, etc.) | — | Results announced in 'Subaru' and 'Shosetsu Subaru' |
Criteria
- Narrative that delves deeply into human psychology
- Works transcending pure and popular literature
- Japanese novel single volumes and unpublished paperbacks
Related Awards
- List of literary awards
Official Resources
https://www.shueisha.co.jp/info/watanabe.pdfPast Winners
A contemporary novel in which social issues are tightly entangled. A publisher’s editor wavers between investigating a suspicion and finding solace in a virtual world.
The danger embedded in the feeling of finding something “cute” is exposed alongside the distortions of society.
A novel set in Brazilian immigrant society, following two young men torn apart by division and hatred.
In a faraway country, conflict among compatriots tears fate apart.
A full-length novel in which Ikka, who begins working for perfumer Saku in an old Western-style house, comes to see clients' secrets and Saku's loneliness through scent.
Fragrance calls up memory and gradually brings loneliness into view.
アタラクシア is an award-winning work by 金原ひとみ. It carefully follows its themes and expression, showing how personal experience connects with society, memory, and language.
アタラクシア looks closely at the relationship between people and the world with the density expected of an award-winning work.
A period mystery set in Tokyo in 1933, following the murder of a right-wing leader and a geisha at a major kabuki theater. Jiro Sakuragi, a university lecturer descended from Edo kabuki playwrights, confronts both the case and the unease of the age.
A tragedy at a kabuki theater illuminates early Showa society and the burdens of art.
A historical novel about Sawase Jingoro, who is taken into Tokugawa service, then drifts through Sakai, Satsuma, Hakata, and Luzon before being caught up in Hideyoshi's invasion of Korea. It portrays conscience that refuses to yield amid trade, power, and war in late sixteenth-century Japan.
Like crossing the sea by the stars, this is a story of holding on to conscience in a turbulent age.
マチネの終わりに is an award-winning work by 平野啓一郎. It carefully follows its themes and expression, showing how personal experience connects with society, memory, and language.
マチネの終わりに looks closely at the relationship between people and the world with the density expected of an award-winning work.
あこがれ is an award-recognized work by 川上未映子. It is presented as a work shaped by character choices, a sense of time and place, and a lingering question after the final page.
あこがれ is a work whose shape becomes clearer when its award history is read alongside its publication record.