Three people who have received the Akutagawa and Naoki Awards

Three people who received the Akutagawa and Naoki Prizes talk happily at the conference at 20:42 on July 15th.

The 163rd Akutagawa Prize and Naoki Prize selection meeting was held on the 15th, and the Akutagawa Prize was selected from two works, "Horiko Shuri's horse" by Haneko Takayama and "Disruption" by Haruka Tono. In addition, the Naoki Prize was chosen by Shusei Ebisu's "Boys and Dogs". The three award winners shared their joy at the conference.

Akutagawa Prize Takayama “I feel like another play ball was hit”

Hanako Takayama, who was selected for the Akutagawa Award, said at a press conference, “I feel relieved when I say it flatly. I was relieved to be able to write a little more, or to feel that writing was okay. Said the joy.

Regarding the work that was written in Okinawa, "I had the experience of going to Okinawa first, and it was born from that. I didn't intend to write it, but the relationship I had with me. Or it was a form that was born from experience.”

Regarding the third award winning, "I think that this was not the goal, but another play ball was hit, and that I was able to stand on the edge of the field by winning the prize," Takayama, a baseball lover, said. He expressed his feelings with his unique expression.

Regarding future work creation, ``There are many things I can not write unless I go to the land where I will set the stage of the work, so it is a difficult situation to interview locally, but among them, around 2020 in Tokyo The scenery has changed so much that I really want to record it, and I feel that it is one of the things I have to write."

Akutagawa Prize Tono "I want to do it at my own pace"

Haruka Tono, who was selected for the Akutagawa Award, was nervous at the press conference and said, “I just received the call, so I am very surprised and my head is not catching up.” Did.

In addition, "I recognize that this is an award with a very long history, and I think it is an award in which famous writers and great writers are listed, so I think it is a great honor to join the final seat. I will be happy."

Also, about the fact that the selection committee evaluated "the imbalance of the main character is fresh", "I do not think that I am a weird character, I feel like I feel bad" or "I can not empathize" depending on the person You said, I don't think I wrote it that way. I hope I can get a little more familiar with it."

When asked about the future, he said, “I don't think this award is a goal, so I would like to continue working. It's not about changing my mind about writing because I won this award. Do it at your own pace. I want to continue."

Naoki Prize CEO "How humans live"

Mr. Shu Hoshi, who was selected for the Naoki Prize, went to a press conference from his hometown of Urakawa, Hokkaido, using a video conference system.

Regarding the moment of winning the award, he said, "Since last year I have been spending summer in my hometown, I was selected as a candidate at this time, so I thought it was interesting as a meeting and I was waiting for the announcement. It was decided, and I am very pleased that the locals were very pleased."

Regarding the 7th nomination for the award, "I was in the mood to write what I wanted to write from about the mid-forties, and I am glad that this work was evaluated as one of them. I wasn't able to win the award because of my immaturity, and I think the fact that I received the award this time has been recognized for having faced the novel for more than 20 years."

He also wrote about a dog-based story, saying, "It's only tragic when it's just humans, but I had the idea that salvation would be born when animals came out. I knew that a novel that puts out animals was said to be ridiculous, but since I've been living with dogs for over 25 years, I have to write it, and I also wanted to write it myself."


Based on the fact that the Great East Japan Earthquake and the Kumamoto Earthquake were included in the award-winning works, "Natural disasters are becoming everyday, including recent heavy rain, and it is not because of how we humans live. I feel that human beings will write novels in the future while thinking about how they will live."