The Naoki Prize, officially , is a Japanese literary award presented biannually. It was created in 1935 by Kikuchi Kan, then editor of the BungeishunjÃ
« magazine, and named in memory of novelist Naoki Sanjugo. Sponsored by the Society for the Promotion of Japanese Literature, the award recognizes "the best work of popular literature in any format by a new, rising, or (reasonably young) established author." The winner receives a watch and one million yen.
Kikuchi founded the Naoki Prize with the Akutagawa Prize, 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 Akutagawa Prize, is one of Japan's most sought after literary awards of recognition.
Winners
BungeishunjÃ
« maintains the official archive of past Naoki Prize winners.
1stâÂÂ100th
101st to present
Winners and nominees available in English translation
Winners
- 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, 2008)
- 1967 (57th) - Akiyuki Nosaka, American Hijiki (In The Penguin Book of Japanese Short Stories, trans. Jay Rubin, Penguin Books, 2017) / Grave of the Fireflies, trans. Ginny Tapley Takemori, Penguin Classics, 2025.
- 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 AtÃ
Âda, "Napoleon Crazy", "The Visitor", and "The Transparent Fish" (In Napoleon Crazy and Other Stories, trans. Stanleigh H. Jones, Kodansha 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, 1991)
- 1986 (96th) - Go Osaka, The Red Star of Cadiz (trans. Usha Jayaraman, Kurodahan Press, 2008)
- 1993 (109th) - Aiko Kitahara, The Budding Tree (trans. Ian MacDonald, Dalkey Archive Press, 2008)
- 1996 (115th) - Asa Nonami, The Hunter (trans. Juliet Winters Carpenter, Kodansha International, 2006)
- 1997 (117th) - JirÃ
 Asada, The Stationmaster (trans. Terry Gallagher, Viz Media, 2009)
- 1998 (119th) - ChÃ
Âkitsu Kurumatani, The Paradise Bird Tattoo (trans. Kenneth J. Bryson, Counterpoint, 2010)
- 2000 (123rd)
- Yoichi Funado, May in the Valley of the Rainbow (trans. Eve Alison Nyren, Vertical, 2006)
- Kazuki Kaneshiro, Go (trans. Takami Nieda, AmazonCrossing, 2018)
- 2005 (134th) - Keigo Higashino, The Devotion of Suspect X (trans. Alexander O. Smith, Minotaur Books, 2011)
- 2010 (143rd) - Kyoko Nakajima, The Little House (trans. Ginny Tapley Takemori, Darf Publishing, 2019)
- 2015 (153rd) - Akira Higashiyama, Ryu (trans. Alison Watts, 26letters, 2025)
- 2016 (156th) - Riku Onda, Honeybees and Distant Thunder (trans. Philip Gabriel, Pegasus Books, 2023)
- 2018 (159th) - Rio Shimamoto, First Love (trans. Louise Heal Kawai, Honford Star, 2024)
- 2020 (163rd) - Hase SeishÃ
«, The Boy and the Dog (trans. Alison Watts, Viking Press, 2022)
- 2021 (166th) - Honobu Yonezawa, The Samurai and the Prisoner (trans. Giuseppe di Martino, Yen Press, 2023)
Nominees
- 1938 (7th) - Sakae Kubo, Land of Volcanic Ash (trans. David G. Goodman, Cornell University East Asia Program, 1986)
- 1963 (49th) - Toshiyuki Kajiyama, The Remembered Shadow of the Yi Dynasty (In The Clan Records: Five Stories of Korea, trans. Yoshiko Dykstra, University of Hawaii Press, 1995)
- 1963 (50th) - Masako Togawa, The Lady Killer (trans. Simon Grove, Pushkin Press, 2018)
- 1983 (89th) - Kenzo Kitakata, The Cage (trans. Paul Warham, Vertical, 2006)
- 1986 (95th) - Keiichiro Ryu, The Blade of the Courtesans (trans. James M. Vardaman, Vertical, 2008)
- 1988 (100th) - Joh Sasaki, Zero Over Berlin (trans. Hiroko Yoda, Vertical, 2004)
- 1991 (105th) - Miyuki Miyabe, The Sleeping Dragon (trans. Deborah Iwabuchi, Kodansha International, 2009)
- 1996 (115th) - Koji Suzuki, Dark Water (trans. Glynne Walley, Vertical, 2004)
- 1997 (118th) - Natsuo Kirino, Out (trans. Stephen Snyder, Vintage Books, 2005)
- 1998 (120th)
- Keigo Higashino, Naoko (trans. Kerim Yasar, Vertical, 2004)
- Hideo Yokoyama, Prefecture D (trans. Jonathan Lloyd-Davies, Riverrun, 2019)
- 1999 (122nd) - Keigo Higashino, Journey Under the Midnight Sun (trans. Alexander O. Smith, Little, Brown, 2015)
- 2001 (126th) - Ira Ishida, Call Boy (trans. Lamar Stone, Shueisha, 2013)
- 2004 (132nd) - KÃ
ÂtarÃ
 Isaka, 3 Assassins (trans. Sam Malissa, Harvill Secker, 2022)
- 2005 (133rd)
- Hideo Furukawa, Belka, Why Don't You Bark? (trans. Michael Emmerich, Viz Media, 2012)
- Akiko Itoyama, In Pursuit of Lavender (trans. Charles de Wolf, Anthem Press, 2013)
- 2007 (137th)
- Kazuki Sakuraba, Red Girls: The Legend of the Akakuchibas (trans. Jocelyne Allen, Viz Media, 2015)
- Tomihiko Morimi, The Night is Short, Walk on Girl (trans. Emily Balistrieri, Yen Press, 2019)
- 2011 (145th) - Kazuaki Takano, Genocide of One (trans. Philip Gabriel, Mulholland Books, 2014)
- 2015 (153rd) - Asako Yuzuki, Hooked (trans. Polly Barton, Ecco Press, 2026)
- 2015 (154th) - Natsu Miyashita, The Forest of Wool and Steel (trans. Philip Gabriel, Doubleday, 2019)
- 2017 (157th) - Asako Yuzuki, Butter (trans. Polly Barton, Ecco Press, 2024)
Current members of the selection committee
(As of 2024)
See also
References
External links