The Naoki Prize, officially , is a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

literary award A literary award or literary prize is an award presented in recognition of a particularly lauded Literature, literary piece or body of work. It is normally presented to an author. Organizations Most literary awards come with a corresponding award c ...

presented biannually. It was created in 1935 by

Kikuchi Kan , also known as Kan Kikuchi (which uses the same kanji as his real name), was a Japanese author and publisher. He established the publishing company Bungeishunjū, the monthly magazine Bungeishunjū (magazine), of the same name, the Japan Writer ...

, then editor of the ''Bungeishunjū'' magazine, and named in memory of novelist

Naoki Sanjugo was a pen name of a novelist in Taishō and Shōwa period Japan. His real name was . Early life Naoki Sanjūgo was born in what is now Chūō-ku, Osaka. The noted historian Uemura Seiji, specialist in East Asian history, was his brother. Agains ...

. Sponsored by the

Society for the Promotion of Japanese Literature The is an organisation, established in 1938, to promote Japanese literature. It organises five literary prizes: *Akutagawa Prize *Kikuchi Kan Prize *Matsumoto Prize *Naoki Prize *Ohya Prize External links

* Japanese literature Organiza ...

, the award recognizes "the best work of popular

literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...

in any format by a new, rising, or (reasonably young) established author." The winner receives a watch and one million

yen The is the official currency of Japan. It is the third-most traded currency in the foreign exchange market, after the United States dollar and the euro. It is also widely used as a third reserve currency after the US dollar and the euro. T ...

. Kikuchi founded the Naoki Prize with the

Akutagawa Prize The is a Japanese literary award presented biannually. Because of its prestige and the considerable attention the winner receives from the media, it is, along with the Naoki Prize, one of Japan's most sought after literary prizes. History Th ...

, which targets a new or rising author of literary fiction. The two prizes are viewed as "two sides of the same coin" and inseparable from one another. Because of the prestige associated with the Naoki Prize and the considerable attention the winner receives from the media, it, along with the

, is one of Japan's most sought after literary awards of recognition.

Winners

Bungeishunjū is a Japanese publishing company known for its leading monthly magazine '' Bungeishunjū''. The company was founded by Kan Kikuchi in 1923. It grants the annual Akutagawa Prize, one of the most prestigious literary awards in Japan, as well a ...

maintains the official archive of past Naoki Prize winners.

1st–100th

101st to present

Winners available in English translation

* 1961 (45th) - Tsutomu Mizukami, ''The Temple of the Wild Geese'' (In ''The Temple of the Wild Geese and Bamboo Dolls of Echizen'', trans. Dennis C. Washburn,

Dalkey Archive Press Dalkey Archive Press is an American publisher of fiction, poetry, foreign translations and literary criticism specializing in the publication or republication of lesser-known, often avant-garde works. The company has offices in Funks Grove, Il ...

, 2008) * 1967 (57th) - Akiyuki Nosaka, ''American Hijiki'' (In ''The Penguin Book of Japanese Short Stories'', trans.

Jay Rubin Jay Rubin (born 1941) is an American translator, writer, scholar and Japanologist. He is one of the main translators of the works of the Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami into English. He has also written a guide to Japanese, ''Making Sense of Jap ...

Penguin Books Penguin Books Limited is a Germany, German-owned English publishing, publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers the Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the ...

, 2017) / ''A Grave of Fireflies'' (In ''Japan Quarterly'', vol. 25, no. 4, trans. James R. Abrams, 1978) *1973 (69th) - Hideo Osabe, ''Tsugaru Jonkarabushi'' and ''Tsugaru Yosarebushi'' (In ''Voices from the Snow'', trans. James N. Westerhoven, Hirosaki University Press, 2009) * 1979 (81st) - Takashi Atōda, "Napoleon Crazy", "The Visitor", and "The Transparent Fish" (In ''Napoleon Crazy and other stories'', trans. Stanleigh H. Jones,

Kodansha is a Japanese privately held publishing company headquartered in Bunkyō, Tokyo. Kodansha publishes manga magazines which include ''Nakayoshi'', ''Morning (magazine), Morning'', ''Afternoon (magazine), Afternoon'', ''Evening (magazine), Eveni ...

International, 1986) / "Of Golf and Its Beginnings" and "A Treatise on Count St. German" (In ''The Square Persimmon and other stories'', trans. Millicent M. Horton,

Tuttle Publishing Tuttle Publishing, originally the Charles E. Tuttle Company, is a book publishing company that includes Tuttle, Periplus Editions, and Journey Editions.

, 1991) * 1986 (96th) - Go Osaka, ''The Red Star of Cadiz'' (trans. Usha Jayaraman, Kurodahan Press, 2008) * 1993 (109th) -

Aiko Kitahara is a former Japanese J-Pop, pop singer and songwriter under the Giza Studio label. Biography Aiko's interest in music was inspired by her mother's love for bossa nova and Latin pop, which have had a big influence on her songs. 2002-2003: Piec ...

, ''The Budding Tree'' (trans. Ian MacDonald,

, 2008) * 1996 (115th) - Asa Nonami, ''The Hunter'' (trans.

Juliet Winters Carpenter Juliet Winters Carpenter (born 1948) is an American translator of modern Japanese literature. Born in the American Midwest, she studied Japanese literature at the University of Michigan and the Inter-University Center for Japanese Language Studies ...

International, 2006) * 1997 (117th) - Jirō Asada, ''The Stationmaster'' (trans. Terry Gallagher,

Viz Media Viz Media, LLC is an American entertainment company headquartered in San Francisco, California, focused on publishing manga, and distribution and licensing Japanese anime, films, and television series. The company was founded in 1986 as Viz, ...

, 2009) * 1998 (119th) - Chōkitsu Kurumatani, ''The Paradise Bird Tattoo'' (trans. Kenneth J. Bryson,

Counterpoint In music theory, counterpoint is the relationship of two or more simultaneous musical lines (also called voices) that are harmonically dependent on each other, yet independent in rhythm and melodic contour. The term originates from the Latin ...

, 2010) * 2000 (123rd) **

Yoichi Funado , known by his pen name , was a Japanese writer of adventure fiction. Biography Funado was born as Kenji Harada on February 8, 1944. During his student days, he traveled to Alaska. He graduated from Waseda University. Funado wrote approximately ...

, ''May in the Valley of the Rainbow'' (trans. Eve Alison Nyren, Vertical, 2006) **

Kazuki Kaneshiro is a Zainichi Korean novelist who was born in Kawaguchi, Saitama. Later in his life he acquired Japanese citizenship. Due to early influence from his Marxist-Leninist father, he studied at the Chongryon-affiliated elementary school and middle sch ...

, '' Go'' (trans. Takami Nieda, AmazonCrossing, 2018) * 2005 (134th) -

Keigo Higashino is a Japanese author chiefly known for his mystery novels. He served as the 13th President of Mystery Writers of Japan from 2009 to 2013. Higashino has won major Japanese awards for his books, almost twenty of which have been turned into films ...

, '' The Devotion of Suspect X'' (trans.

Alexander O. Smith Alexander O. Smith is a professional Japanese to English translator and author. While his output covers many areas such as adaptation of Japanese novels, manga, song lyrics, anime scripts, and various academic works, he is best known for his so ...

Minotaur Books St. Martin's Press is a book publisher headquartered in Manhattan in New York City. It is headquartered in the Equitable Building. St. Martin's Press is considered one of the largest English-language publishers, bringing to the public some 700 ...

, 2011) * 2010 (143rd) -

Kyoko Nakajima is a Japanese writer. She has won the Naoki Prize, Izumi Kyōka Prize for Literature, Shibata Renzaburo Prize, Kawai Hayao Story Prize, and Chuo Koron Literary Prize, and her work has been adapted for film. Early life and education Kyoko Nakajim ...

, ''The Little House'' (trans. Ginny Tapley Takemori, Darf Publishing, 2019) * 2016 (156th) - Riku Onda, ''Honeybees and Distant Thunder'' (trans.

Philip Gabriel James Philip Gabriel (born 1953) is an American translator and Japanologist. He is a full professor and former department chair of the University of Arizona's Department of East Asian Studies and is one of the major translators into English of the ...

, Pegasus Books, 2023) * 2018 (159th) -

Rio Shimamoto is a Japanese writer. She has won the Gunzo Prize for New Writers, the Noma Literary New Face Prize and the Naoki Prize, and her work has been adapted for film. Biography Shimamoto was born in 1983 in Tokyo, Japan. She made her literary debut ...

, ''First Love'' (trans. Louise Heal Kawai, Honford Star, 2024) * 2020 (163rd) - Hase Seishū, ''The Boy and the Dog'' (trans. Alison Watts,

Viking Press Viking Press (formally Viking Penguin, also listed as Viking Books) is an American publishing company owned by Penguin Random House. It was founded in New York City on March 1, 1925, by Harold K. Guinzburg and George S. Oppenheimer and then acqu ...

, 2022) * 2021 (166th) -

Honobu Yonezawa is a Japanese writer, best known for his young adult mystery series '' Kotenbu'', also known as the ''Classic Literature Club'' series. Biography Honobu Yonezawa was born in 1978 in the Gifu Prefecture. From as young as he could remember, Yo ...

, ''The Samurai and the Prisoner'' (trans. Giuseppe di Martino,

Yen Press Yen Press is an American manga, graphic novel and light novel publisher co-owned by Kadokawa Corporation and Hachette Book Group. It published '' Yen Plus'', a monthly comic anthology, between 2008 and 2013. In addition to translated material, ...

, 2023)

Current members of the selection committee

(As of 2024) * Jirō Asada * Kakuta Mitsuyo *

Natsuhiko Kyogoku is a Japanese mystery writer, who is a member of Ōsawa Office. He is a member of the Mystery Writers of Japan and the Honkaku Mystery Writers Club of Japan. Three of his novels have been turned into feature films; '' Mōryō no Hako'', which ...

Natsuo Kirino (born October 7, 1951, in Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture) is the pen name of Mariko Hashioka, a Japanese novelist and a leading figure in the recent boom of female writers of Japanese detective fiction. Biography Kirino is the middle child of t ...

* Kaoru Takamura ( ja) * Mariko Hayashi ( ja) *

Shion Miura is a Japanese writer. She has won the Naoki Prize, the Oda Sakunosuke Prize, and the Japan Booksellers' Award. Her work has been adapted for film and television, and her books have been translated into Indonesian, Chinese, Korean, Vietnam ...

Miyuki Miyabe is a Japanese writer of genre fiction. She has won numerous Japanese literary awards, including the Yoshikawa Eiji Prize for New Writers, the Yoshikawa Eiji Prize for Literature, the Shiba Ryotaro Prize, the Yamamoto Shūgorō Prize, and the Na ...

References

External links

J'Lit , Awards : Naoki Prize , Books from Japan
{{Authority control Japanese literary awards Awards established in 1935 Literary awards honouring young writers Fiction awards 1935 establishments in Japan