Japanese Literary Awards

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Yomiuri Literary Award よみうりぶんがくしょう

Edition 75 (2023)

NovelPlay/ScreenplayEssay/TravelogueCriticism/BiographyPoetry/HaikuResearch/Translation

Winners

6 people
Mieko Kawakami かわかみ みえこ award

The communal life of girls gathered together in a summer when the protagonist was seventeen begins to unravel after one woman's death. A crime suspense novel that follows people trying to survive at the edge of poverty and violence.

The time shared by the girls in the yellow house eventually turns into an irreversible reality.

608 pages
crime suspenseshared livingpovertywomen
Yuji Sakamoto さかもと ゆうじ award

In a town where children vanish on a stormy morning, the shape of events changes little by little through the perspectives of a mother, a teacher, and the children themselves. An original scenario book containing the final script of the film 'Monster.'

Each change of perspective makes the identity of the monster shift again.

176 pages
scenario bookfamilyschoolshifting viewpoints
Kanako Nishi にし かなこ award

After being diagnosed with breast cancer in Canada, the author reconsiders her body and way of living while moving through treatment and daily life. At once a record of illness and a quiet essay on what it feels like to live in another country.

This is a book that looks at a body living with illness not only through fear, but also with humor and steadiness.

256 pages
illness memoirthe bodyCanadaself-acceptance
Tadashi Sawada さわだ ただし award

This biography traces the life of the Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa, who created multiple alter egos and wrote in their voices, while weaving in poems and letters. As the portrait sharpens, the complexity of the poet's inner life comes into view.

It portrays a poet who was one person and many at once through both documentary evidence and the work itself.

496 pages
biographyPortuguese literatureheteronymspoetry and life
Yuko Masaki まさき ゆうこ award

A sequence of haiku captures slight shifts in season and life, letting transience and certainty resonate quietly. As Masaki Yuko's sixth collection, it sharply clarifies the contours of everyday life.

What lasts only a brief moment becomes a long aftertaste in the verses.

208 pages
haiku collectionpoetryseasonslife
Sho Suzuki すずき あきら award

A biography that revisits Nijinsky's life and work through documentary evidence.

Tracing the path of a leap genius through documents and photographs.

432 pages
balletdance historybiography20th-century art