Akutagawa Prize
Template:Short description Template:Infobox award
The Template:Nihongo is a Japanese literary award presented semi-annually. 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.<ref name=jtfukue /><ref name=mack>Template:Cite journal</ref>
History

The Akutagawa Prize was established in 1935 by Kan Kikuchi, then-editor of Bungeishunjū magazine, in memory of author Ryūnosuke Akutagawa.<ref name=mack /> It is sponsored by the Society for the Promotion of Japanese Literature, and is awarded in January and July to the best serious literary story published in a newspaper or magazine by a new or rising author.<ref name=jtfukue>Template:Cite web</ref> The winner receives a pocket watch and a cash award of 1 million yen. The judges usually include contemporary writers, literary critics, and former winners of the prize. Occasionally, when consensus cannot be reached between judges over disputes about the winning story or the quality of work for that half year, no prize is awarded. From 1945 through 1948 no prizes were awarded due to postwar instability.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The prize has frequently been split between two authors.<ref name="CopelandRamirez-Christensen2001">Template:Cite book</ref>
On January 15, 2004, the awarding of the 130th Akutagawa Prize made significant news when two women became the award's youngest winners.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The prize went to both Risa Wataya, 19, for her novel Template:Nihongo and to Hitomi Kanehara, 20, for her debut novel Template:Nihongo. In 2013 Natsuko Kuroda won the 148th Akutagawa Prize at age 75, making her the oldest recipient in the history of the prize.<ref name=kuroda>Template:Cite news</ref>
Controversies
In 1972, Akutagawa winner Template:Ill was found to have committed plagiarism.<ref name=beauchamp>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> In 2018, a similar controversy occurred when the candidate novel Template:Nihongo by Yuko Hojo was found to have reused text from its nonfiction source material without attribution, but the Society for the Promotion of Japanese Literature did not remove the book from the candidate list.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Records
- The youngest recipient of the prize to date is Risa Wataya who was 19 when she received the award for I Want to Kick You in the Back (Template:Nihongo).
- The best-seller title (in Japan only) is Spark (Template:Nihongo), by Naoki Matayoshi which sold 2,29 millions of copies.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Winners
Bungeishunjū maintains an official archive of current and past winners on behalf of the Society for the Promotion of Japanese Literature.<ref name=official>Template:Cite web</ref>
| 上 | Indicates the first half of the given year. |
| 下 | Indicates the second half of the given year. |
Winners and nominees available in English translation
Winners
- 1936 (4th) - Jun Ishikawa, The Bodhisattva (trans. William J. Tyler, Columbia University Press, 1990)
- 1937 (5th) - Kazuo Ozaki, Rosy Glasses (in Rosy Glasses and Other Stories, trans. Robert Epp, Paul Norbury Publications, 1988)
- 1949 (22nd) - Yasushi Inoue, The Bullfight (trans. Michael Emmerich, Pushkin Press, 2013)
- 1953 (29th) - Shōtarō Yasuoka, Bad Company (in A View by the Sea, trans. Karen Wigen Lewis, Columbia University Press, 1984)
- 1954 (31st) - Junnosuke Yoshiyuki, Sudden Shower (In New Writing in Japan, trans. Geoffrey Bownas, Penguin, 1972)
- 1954 (32nd)
- Nobuo Kojima, The American School (In Contemporary Japanese Literature, trans. William F. Sibley, Alfred A. Knopf, 1977)
- Junzo Shono, Evenings at the Pool (In Still Life and Other Stories, trans. Wayne P. Lammers, Stone Bridge Press, 1992)
- 1955 (33rd) - Shūsaku Endō, White Man (In White Man, Yellow Man, trans. Teruyo Shimizu, Paulist Press, 2014)
- 1955 (34th) - Shintaro Ishikawa, Season of Violence (In Season of Violence, trans. John G. Mills, Toshie Takahama, and Ken Tremayne, Tuttle, 1966)
- 1957 (38th) - Takeshi Kaiko, The Naked King (In Japan Quarterly, vol. 24, no. 2, trans. Howard Curtis, 1977)
- 1958 (39th) - Kenzaburō Ōe, Prize Stock (In Teach Us to Outgrow Our Madness, trans. John Nathan, Grove Press, 1977)
- 1960 (44th) - Tetsuo Miura, A Portrait of Shino (In Shame in the Blood, trans. Andrew Driver, Catapult, 2007)
- 1963 (49th) - Taeko Kono, Crabs (In Toddler-Hunting and Other Stories, trans. Lucy North, New Directions Publishing, 1996)
- 1965 (53rd) - Setsuko Tsumura, Playthings (In Japan Quarterly, vol. 27, no. 1, trans. Kyoko Evanhoe and Robert N. Lawson, 1980)
- 1967 (57th) - Tatsuhiro Ōshiro, The Cocktail Party (In Okinawa: Two Postwar Novellas, trans. Steve Rabson, Institute of East Asian Studies, 1989)
- 1968 (59th) - Minako Oba, The Three Crabs (in This Kind of Woman: Ten Stories by Japanese Women Writers, 1960-1976, trans. Yukiko Tanaka and Elizabeth Hanson, Stanford University Press, 1982)
- 1970 (64th) - Yoshikichi Furui, Yoko (In Child of Darkness: Yoko and Other Stories, trans. Donna George Storey, University of Michigan Center for Japanese Studies, 1997)
- 1971 (66th)
- Kaisei Ri, The Woman Who Fulled Clothes (In Flowers of Fire: Twentieth-Century Korean Stories, trans. Beverly Nelson, University of Hawaii Press, 1986)
- Mineo Higashi, Child of Okinawa (In Okinawa: Two Postwar Novellas, trans. Steve Rabson, Institute of East Asian Studies, 1989)
- 1972 (68th)
- Michiko Yamamoto, Betty-san (In Betty-san, trans. Geraldine Harcourt, Kodansha International, 1985)
- Shizuko Gō, Requiem (trans. Geraldine Harcourt, Kodansha International, 1983)
- 1975 (73rd) - Kyoko Hayashi, Ritual of Death (In Nuke Rebuke: Writers and Artists against Nuclear Energy and Weapons, trans. Kyoko Selden, The Spirit That Moves Us Press, 1984)
- 1975 (74th) - Kenji Nakagami, The Cape (In The Cape and Other Stories from the Japanese Ghetto, trans. Eve Zimmerman, Stone Bridge Press, 1999)
- 1976 (75th) - Ryū Murakami, Almost Transparent Blue (trans. Nancy Andrew, Kodansha International, 1977)
- 1977 (78th) - Teru Miyamoto, River of Fireflies (in Rivers, trans. Roger K. Thomas and Ralph McCarthy, Kurodahan Press, 2014)
- 1979 (81st) - Yoshiko Shigekane, The Smoke in the Mountain Valley (In Mississippi Review, vol. 39, no. 1/3, trans. John Wilson and Motoko Naruse, 2012)
- 1981 (85th) - Rie Yoshiyuki, The Little Lady (In Japanese Literature Today, no. 7, trans. Geraldine Harcourt, 1982)
- 1984 (92nd) - Satoko Kizaki, The Phoenix Tree (In The Phoenix Tree and Other Stories, trans. Carol A. Flath, Kodansha International, 1990)
- 1985 (94th) - Fumiko Kometani, Passover (In Passover, trans. by the author, Carroll and Graf, 1989)
- 1987 (97th) - Kiyoko Murata, In the Pot (In Japanese Women Writers: Twentieth Century Short Fiction, trans. Kyoko Iriye Seldon, Routledge, 2015)
- 1987 (98th)
- Natsuki Ikezawa, Still Life (In Still Lives, trans. Dennis Keene, Kodansha International, 1997)
- Kiyohiro Miura, He's Leaving Home: My Young Son Becomes a Zen Monk (trans. Jeff Shore, Tuttle, 1996)
- 1990 (104th) - Yōko Ogawa, Pregnancy Diary (In The Diving Pool, trans. Stephen Snyder, Picador, 2008)
- 1992 (108th) - Yoko Tawada, The Bridegroom was a Dog (In The Bridegroom was a Dog, trans. Margaret Mitsutani, Kodansha International, 2003)
- 1993 (110th) - Hikaru Okuizumi, The Stones Cry Out (trans. James Westerhoven, Harcourt, 1999)
- 1996 (115th) - Hiromi Kawakami, Record of a Night Too Brief (trans. Lucy North, Pushkin Press, 2017)
- 1997 (117th) - Shun Medoruma, Droplets (In Southern Exposure: Modern Japanese Literature from Okinawa, trans. Michael Molasky, University of Hawaii Press, 2000)
- 1998 (120th) - Keiichiro Hirano, Eclipse (trans. Brent de Chene and Charles De Wolf, Columbia University Press, 2024)
- 2000 (123rd) - Kō Machida, Rip It Up (trans. Daniel Joseph, Mercurial Editions, 2022)
- 2000 (124th) - Toshiyuki Horie, The Bear and the Paving Stone (In The Bear and the Paving Stone, trans. Geraint Howells, Pushkin Press, 2018)
- 2003 (130th)
- Hitomi Kanehara, Snakes and Earrings (trans. David Karashima, Dutton, 2005)
- Risa Wataya, I Want to Kick You in the Back (trans. Julianne Neville, One Peace Books, 2015)
- 2005 (133rd) - Fuminori Nakamura, The Boy in the Earth (trans. Allison Markin Powell, Soho Crime, 2017)
- 2005 (134th) - Akiko Itoyama, Waiting in the Offing (In Words Without Borders, April 2007, trans. Charles De Wolf)
- 2006 (136th) - Nanae Aoyama, A Perfect Day to Be Alone (trans. Jesse Kirkwood, MacLehose Press, 2024)
- 2011 (146th)
- Toh EnJoe, Harlequin Butterfly (trans. David Boyd, Pushkin Press, 2024)
- Shinya Tanaka, Cannibals (trans. Kalau Almony, Honford Star, 2024)
- 2012 (147th) - Maki Kashimada, Touring the Land of the Dead (trans. Haydn Trowell, Europa Editions, 2021)
- 2013 (149th) - Kaori Fujino, Nails and Eyes (trans. Kendall Heitzman, Pushkin Press, 2023)
- 2013 (150th) - Hiroko Oyamada, The Hole (trans. David Boyd, New Directions Publishing, 2020)
- 2014 (151st) - Tomoka Shibasaki, Spring Garden (trans. Polly Barton, Pushkin Press, 2017)
- 2015 (153rd) - Naoki Matayoshi, Spark (trans. Allison Watts, Pushkin Press, 2020)
- 2015 (154th) - Yukiko Motoya, An Exotic Marriage (In The Lonesome Bodybuilder, trans. Asa Yoneda, Soft Skull, 2018)
- 2016 (155th) - Sayaka Murata, Convenience Store Woman (trans. Ginny Tapley Takemori, Grove Press, 2018)
- 2017 (158th) - Yuka Ishii, The Mud of a Century (trans. Haydn Trowell, Gazebo Books, 2023)
- 2019 (161st) - Natsuko Imamura, The Woman in the Purple Skirt (trans. Lucy North, Faber and Faber, 2021)
- 2020 (164th) - Rin Usami, Idol, Burning (trans. Asa Yoneda, HarperVia, 2022)
- 2021 (165th) - Mai Ishizawa, The Place of Shells (trans. Polly Barton, New Directions Publishing, 2025)
- 2022 (167th) - Junko Takase, May You Have Delicious Meals (trans. Morgan Giles, Penguin, 2025)
- 2023 (169th) - Saou Ichikawa, Hunchback (trans. Polly Barton, Penguin, 2025)
- 2023 (170th) - Rie Kudan, Sympathy Tower Tokyo (trans. Jesse Kirkwood, Penguin, 2025)
Nominees
- 1949 (22nd) - Yasushi Inoue, The Hunting Gun (trans. Michael Emmerich, Pushkin Press, 2014)
- 1951 (25th) - Shōtarō Yasuoka, The Glass Slipper (In The Glass Slipper and Other Stories, trans. Royall Tyler, Dalkey Archive Press, 2008)
- 1952 (27th) - Shōtarō Yasuoka, Homework (In The Glass Slipper and Other Stories, trans. Royall Tyler, Dalkey Archive Press, 2008)
- 1952 (28th)
- Shōtarō Yasuoka, Prized Possessions (In Contemporary Japanese Literature, trans. Edwin McClellan, Alfred A. Knopf, 1977)
- Nobuo Kojima, The Rifle (In The Oxford Book of Japanese Short Stories, trans. Lawrence Rogers, Oxford University Press, 1997)
- 1960 (43rd) - Yumiko Kurahashi, Partei (In This Kind of Woman: Ten Stories by Japanese Women Writers, 1960-1976, trans. Yukiko Tanaka and Elizabeth Hanson, Stanford University Press, 1982)
- 1962 (46th) - Kōno Taeko, Snow (In Toddler-Hunting and Other Stories, trans. Lucy North. New Directions Publishing, 1996)
- 1964 (51st) - Masaaki Tachihara, Torchlight Nō (In Cliff's Edge and Other Stories, trans. Stephen W. Kohl, Midwest Publishers, 1980)
- 1965 (53rd) - Masaaki Tachihara, Cliff's Edge (In Cliff's Edge and Other Stories, trans. Stephen W. Kohl, Midwest Publishers, 1980)
- 1971 (65th) - Kin Sekihan, The Curious Tale of Mandogi's Ghost (trans. Cindi L. Textor, Columbia University Press, 2010)
- 1979 (81st) - Haruki Murakami, Hear the Wind Sing (in Wind/Pinball: Two Novels, trans. Ted Goossen, Alfred A. Knopf, 2015)
- 1980 (83rd) - Haruki Murakami, Pinball, 1973 (in Wind/Pinball: Two Novels, trans. Ted Goossen, Alfred A. Knopf, 2015)
- 1980 (84th) - Satoko Kizaki, Barefoot (In The Phoenix Tree and Other Stories, trans. Carol A. Flath, Kodansha International, 1990)
- 1981 (85th) - Satoko Kizaki, The Flame Trees (In The Phoenix Tree and Other Stories, trans. Carol A. Flath, Kodansha International, 1990)
- 1985 (94th) - Amy Yamada, Bedtime Eyes (In Bedtime Eyes, trans. Yumi Gunji and Marc Jardine, St. Martin's Press, 2006)
- 1986 (95th) - Amy Yamada, Jesse (In Bedtime Eyes, trans. Yumi Gunji and Marc Jardine, St. Martin's Press, 2006)
- 1989 (102nd) - Yōko Ogawa, The Diving Pool (In The Diving Pool, trans. Stephen Snyder, Picador, 2008)
- 1998 (120th) - Mari Akasaka, Vibrator (trans. Michael Emmerich, Faber & Faber, 2005)
- 2001 (125th) - Kazushige Abe, Nipponia Nippon (trans. Kerim Yasar, Pushkin Press, 2023)
- 2002 (128th) - Fuminori Nakamura, The Gun (trans. Allison Markin Powell, Soho Press, 2016)
- 2003 (129th) - Akiko Itoyama, It's Only Talk (trans. Raquel Hill, Japan Times Press, 2009)
- 2012 (148th) - Masatsugu Ono, Lion Cross Point (trans. Angus Turvill, Two Lines Press, 2018)
- 2021 (166th) - Rie Kudan, Schoolgirl (In Schoolgirl, trans. Haydn Trowell, Gazebo Books, 2025)
- 2022 (167th) - Suzumi Suzuki, Gifted (trans. Allison Markin Powell, Transit Books, 2024)
Current members of the selection committee and year appointed
- Amy Yamada, 2003
- Hiromi Kawakami, 2007
- Yōko Ogawa, 2007
- Masahiko Shimada, 2010
- Hikaru Okuizumi, 2012
- Shuichi Yoshida, 2016
- Hisaki Matsuura, 2019
- Keiichiro Hirano, 2020<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
- Mieko Kawakami, 2024<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
See also
References
Template:Akutagawa Template:Akutagawa Prize winners Template:Japanese literary awards Template:Authority control