Japan Fantasy Novel Grand Award
ひらりと天狗：神棲まう里の物語
Hirari, a newly employed local civil servant, moves into her mother's childhood home and discovers that her family lineage carries a special role as descendants of the "Nakayashiki," charged with making wishes to tengu. Through encounters with a talking badger named Yosaburo and the tengu Iino, she gradually awakens to her destiny. When a powerful typhoon strikes the town of Toyoho, her true trial begins. A fresh-feeling fantasy set in a rural town where daily life and the supernatural intertwine, depicting the fading of tradition alongside the struggles of a modern civil servant.
Work Information
The combination of a civil servant and an earth spirit is fascinating — Riku Onda
Winner of the Japan Fantasy Novel Grand Award 2025. Civil servant Hirari discovers she is the descendant of a family lineage tasked with making wishes to tengu spirits after moving into her mother's childhood home. As she encounters a talking badger and a tengu in a rural Japanese town, she awakens to her inherited role. A debut novel selected from 354 submissions, blending contemporary life with deep-rooted Japanese folk belief.
Review Summaries
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Many readers praised the pure and sacred atmosphere reminiscent of a mountain village. While a few noted the novel feels lighter than expected for a grand prize winner, the majority praised the fusion of a modern civil servant setting with folkloric supernatural elements, resulting in generally high ratings.
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Judge Riku Onda praised the novel: "The combination of a civil servant and an earth spirit is fascinating. The heroine's modern, understated manner is appealing." Tomihiko Morimi said he "could share the sensibility gained through writing fantasy," and Mari Yamazaki noted she "keenly felt the breadth of fantasy as a genre and the richness of the fantastical latent within reality."
Book Information
- Publisher
- 新潮社
- Published
- 2025-06-18
- Pages
- 320 pages
- Language
- 日本語
- Size
- 19.1 x 13.2 x 2 cm
- ISBN-13
- 9784103563310
- ISBN-10
- 4103563311
- Price
- 1980 JPY
- Category
- 本/文学・評論/文芸作品
喋るアナグマ、タヌキ、コノハズクにイノシシ、そして天狗に神様まで！ 平凡な公務員ひらりに訪れた試練とは？ 就職を機に母の実家で一人暮らしを始めたひらり。 ある日、母の家系は代々、天狗に願掛けをする特殊な役割を負った家だと知る。 祖父母も母も既に亡く、ピンと来ていなかったひらりだが、 穴熊の夜三郎や天狗の飯野など、不思議な生き物と交流するうちに、役割を自覚するようになる。 そんな中、豊穂市を大きな台風が襲い――！
Reviews
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面白い内容
何か故郷の古刹にある中将坊を懐かしく思い関連する内容だったので一読した。ちょっと蛇足的な部分もあるが文章は読みやすかった。唯、年配にはちょっと字が小さい。
Related Literary Awards
- Japan Fantasy Novel Grand Award Edition 33 (2025) ・grand prize