Japan’s Prizewinning Books of 2024

Akutagawa Prize

Three books won Japan’s Akutagawa Prize in 2024. This prestigious prize is awarded to “new” writers of literature, who may have published works, but are not considered established. Prizes, sometimes shared, are announced in January and July.

Qudan Rie’s Tōkyō to dōjōtō (Tokyo Sympathy Tower) won the Akutagawa Prize in January; the author made headlines through her comment that she wrote 5% of the book using generative AI. Set in in the near future of an imagined Japan, the story centers on the high-rise prison of the title, named by the protagonist Makina Sara, who designed it.

In this Japan, society is generous toward criminals, who are seen as victims, deserving of sympathy. The comfortable conditions of the prison, however, lead to protests.

Incidentally, Qudan later clarified that she only used AI for the passages where an AI talks in the book. Global rights have been acquired for the title and an English translation is expected to appear as soon as 2025.

The Akutagawa winners for 2024 are:

• Tōkyō to dōjōtō (Tokyo Sympathy Tower) by Qudan Rie (January)
• Bari sankō (Expert Route Mountain Climbing) by Matsunaga K. Sanzō (July)
• Sanshōuo no shijūku nichi (The Forty-Ninth Day of the Salamander) by Asahina Aki (July)

Naoki Prize

There were three winners of the Naoki Prize, awarded for popular fiction, generally to more established writers than the Akutagawa Prize. Prizes, sometimes shared, are announced in January and July.

Ichiho Michi’s Tsumidemikku (Crimedemic), which won the Naoki Prize in July, is a collection of stories set against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic in which ordinary people get mixed up in a series of incidents.

In one story, a housewife overwhelmed by raising children becomes fixated on a good-looking deliveryman she sees in the street. Without her husband knowing, she orders food every day, hoping that he will bring it, but instead the deliverymen who come look nothing like him. This habit leads to the collapse of her humdrum, everyday life.

Naoki Prize judge Asada Jirō described it as “a collection that will have readers slapping their knees in sudden recognition,” and praised its polished prose.

The Naoki winners for 2024 are:

• Tomogui (Cannibalism) by Kawasaki Akiko (January)
• Hachigatsu no Gosho guraundo (The Imperial Palace Baseball Field in August) by Makime Manabu (January)
• Tsumidemikku (Crimedemic) by Ichiho Michi (July)

Japan Booksellers’ Prize

Chosen through a vote by bookstore employees throughout Japan.

• Naruse wa tenka o tori ni iku (Naruse Sets Out to Conquer the World) by Miyajima Mina

Yoshikawa Eiji Prize

Awarded for outstanding popular fiction.

• Akugyaku (Atrocity) by Kurokawa Hiroyuki

Mystery Writers of Japan Award

Jirai guriko (Glico with Landmines), a collection of linked short stories by Aosaki Yuugo, was one of two 2024 winners of this prize for excellent mystery novels that can give writers’ careers a major boost. It was also nominated for the Naoki Prize.

The high-school girl protagonist has a knack for brain games, facing off against other students in contests like Glico with Landmines, a complex variation on rock-paper-scissors. The pleasure of reading this collection comes in puzzling alongside the characters over the author’s invented games.

The Mystery Writers winners for 2024 are:

• Jirai guriko (Glico with Landmines) by Aosaki Yuugo
• Naito rando (Night Land) by Ogidō Akira

Shinchō Document Award

For superb nonfiction.

• Nankai Torafu jishin no shinjitsu (The Truth About Nankai Trough Earthquakes) by Ozawa Keiichi

The Bestsellers of 2024

The year’s bestselling fiction books in the tankōbon format for new publications were dominated by mysterious YouTuber Uketsu, who had three entries in the top four. Hen na ie and Hen na e, which previously featured in 2023’s top bestsellers, are set to appear in English in 2025, translated by Jim Rion as Strange Houses and Strange Pictures, respectively. The ranking is according to major distributor Nippon Shuppan Hanbai.

1. Hen na ie 2: 11 no madorizu (Strange Houses 2: 11 Floor Plans) by Uketsu
2. Naruse wa tenka o tori ni iku (Naruse Sets Out to Conquer the World) by Miyajima Mina
3. Hen na ie (Strange Houses) by Uketsu
4. Hen na e (Strange Pictures) by Uketsu
5. Naruse wa shinjitai michi o iku (Naruse Follows the Path She Believes In) by Miyajima Mina
6. Zoku madogiwa no Totto-chan (Totto-Chan: The Little Girl at the Window—Sequel) by Kuroyanagi Tetsuko

(Originally published in Japanese. Banner photo: Prizewinning books in 2024: From left, Bari sankō [Expert Route Mountain Climbing], Sanshōuo no shijūku nichi [The Forty-Ninth Day of the Salamander], Tsumidemikku [Crimedemic], and Naruse wa tenka o tori ni iku [Naruse Sets Out to Conquer the World]. Courtesy Kōdansha, Shinchōsha, Kōbunsha, and Shinchōsha, respectively.)