The 166th Akutagawa Prize and Naoki Prize selection meeting was held in Tokyo. The Akutagawa Prize was given by Bunji Sunakawa's "Black Box", and the Naoki Prize was given by Shogo Imamura's "Kouou no Tate" and Honobu Yonezawa's "Kurojuku Castle". 2 works were selected.
Akutagawa Prize "Black Box" Bunji Sunakawa
Bunji Sunakawa, who was awarded the Akutagawa Prize, is 31 years old born in Osaka Prefecture.
After graduating from university and becoming a self-defense official, he started writing novels and made his debut in 2016 when he won the New Artist Award in a literary magazine for "Urban Warfare."
Currently, he continues his creative activities while working at the ward office in Tokyo, and this time, the Akutagawa Prize was awarded as the third candidate.
The award-winning "Black Box" is the main character of a man who works as a "messenger" who carries luggage by bicycle in a world where infection with the new coronavirus is spreading.
The hero who has changed jobs so far feels dissatisfaction with others and the world every day, and the question to himself, "Why do you suddenly explode your feelings of anger?" It is written in a sentence that says.
Naoki Prize "Takeshi of the King" Shogo Imamura
Shogo Imamura, who won the Naoki Prize, is 37 years old from Kyoto prefecture.
After working as a dance instructor and a researcher at the Buried Cultural Property Center in Moriyama City, Shiga Prefecture, he made his debut in 2017 with the "Fire Eating Bird Hashu Rag Togumi".
The Naoki Prize was the third candidate to receive the award, following the "Children's God" announced in 2018 and the "Jinkan" of the adult.
The award-winning work "Anou-shu" is a historical novel depicting the figure of "Anō-shu", a group of craftsmen who give their lives to the stone wall of the castle in the shadow of the activities of the warlords during the Warring States period. The main character is Kosuke Ishigaki, a craftsman who lost his life and was brought up by "Anō-shu".
After the death of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, while the signs of war are approaching, if Ishigaki, who can never be defeated in Otsu Castle surrounded by a large army, can create a world without war, and if a gun that can drop any castle can be made, the battle will be. The confrontation with the head of the group of gunners who believe that they will disappear, "Kunitomo Shu", is depicted in a lively sentence.
Naoki Prize "Kurojukujo" Honobu Yonezawa
Honobu Yonezawa, who won the Naoki Prize, is from Gifu prefecture and is 43 years old.
"Hyoka", who has published his work on the web since he was a college student and challenged the mystery hidden in everyday life by high school students who joined the "Classical Club" in 2001, received the Encouragement Award of the Kadokawa Gakuen Novel Award. I made my debut as a writer.
After that, he won the Mystery Writers of Japan Award for his "Broken Dragonbone" announced in 2010 and the Yamamoto Shugoro Award for his short story "Mitsume" published in 2014, establishing himself as a popular writer. Did.
The Naoki Prize was selected as a candidate for "Satisfaction" and "10 meters before the truth" published the following year, but it did not receive the award, so to speak, it was awarded this time for "the third honesty".
The award-winning work "Kuroda Castle" is based on the historical fact that Araki Murashige, who stood in "Arioka Castle" against Nobunaga Oda during the Warring States period, imprisoned Kuroda Kanbei who came to encourage his conversion. It's a novel.
In the castle surrounded by Oda, mysterious incidents such as locked-room murder occurred one after another, and Murashige began to ask Kyubei in prison to solve the mystery, and it was hinted at on the spot. We will try to solve it based on the hints.
Not only is Murashige and Kanbei's psychological warfare depicted in detail, but it is also talked about as a work that has both an element as a detective novel that solves the mystery of the case and an element as a historical novel that incorporates the values and customs of the Sengoku period. became.
Akutagawa Prize Mr. Sunagawa "I want to dig into what is missing"
Bunji Sunakawa, who was selected for the Akutagawa Prize, said at a press conference, "I'm a little troubled because I'm here with you, honestly, I'm still not sure."
Regarding the award-winning work with messenger as the main character, "The first idea was to pack in what I like, and I started from the fact that I like bicycles. I want to delve into what I lack in writing a novel. It was a work I wrote with my thoughts in mind, and in this work I wrote it with the intention of delving into people and not being too ideological and staying with them in the field. "
When asked if his career as a former SDF officer and his current position as a civil servant were reflected in his work, he said, "There may be something you have experienced in the past when writing, but your profession. Regardless of my position or position, I think that it is a kind of physicality to act toward something in front of us every day. "
For the future, "I think I have to concentrate on writing my work regardless of whether I win the award or not. I think it may change in the future, but I will not change what should not be changed, after this. I would like to continue writing, "he said.
Naoki Prize Mr. Yonezawa "Throwing stones made a pond"
Honobu Yonezawa, who was selected for the Naoki Prize, said at a press conference, "One editor wrote about my novel,'Usually I write like throwing a stone where there is a pond, but Mr. Yonezawa is a stone where there is nothing. I'm going to write a novel as if I'm throwing it. ”In this way, I got one result, and I think that one stone I threw made a pond.” I told you.
And about what I have written so far, "Mystery is a very big axis, and because of that axis, I have been writing novels about any world. From now on, what kind of novel I am I don't know what kind of novel will come to my mind, but mystery is still an important axis for me and my pillar, "he said. Born in Gifu prefecture, Hida was a shogunate territory in the Edo period, but I asked school teachers why Hida was a shogunate territory and deepened my own doubts. The experience of wanting to know has become the most basic attitude of writing a novel. "
Regarding the future, "I've wanted to write a good novel somehow. I'm not sure what the novel I really should write, but I take this award as a message that I wasn't wrong so far. I want to start my next job. "
Naoki Prize Mr. Imamura "I cried"
Shogo Imamura, who won the Naoki Prize, said at a press conference, "I had only one feeling that I was finally here, and when I heard the award, I didn't think I would cry, but I cried." I looked back on my feelings when I was informed of the award.
Regarding his thoughts on the Naoki Prize, he explained, "There was a pure admiration that a baseball boy wanted to be the top hitter, and it was a longing award that was taken by various writers, including Mr. Shotaro Ikenami, who was the beginning of himself." After that, "When I started writing a novel when I was 30 years old, I was proclaiming that I would win the Naoki Prize for the children of the dance school I was working for, so I lied and dreamed even when I was 30 years old. I was able to prove that it was possible. I am relieved that I did not betray the children. "
And at the end of the press conference, "I'm really happy and deeply moved that I was able to win the award at the same age as Mr. Shotaro Ikenami, who I adore. Please keep in touch with me, "he said.
Akutagawa Prize Selection Committee Mr. Hikaru Okuizumi "A novel that oozes urgency"
Mr. Hikaru Okuizumi, one of the selection committee members of the Akutagawa Prize, said about this selection, "The final votes were collected by Bunji Sunakawa and Rie Kudan, and Mr. Kudan received the second highest evaluation after Mr. Sunakawa. There was discussion until the end, and there was a possibility of a double award, but in the end, everyone's evaluation was gathered that Mr. Sunakawa's work was suitable for this Akutagawa Prize. "
On top of that, Mr. Sunagawa's work "Black Box" was also evaluated as modern proletarian literature in a sense, depicting a person who lives at the bottom of a disparity society with a bicycle delivery person as the main character. It was written in realism, and there was an evaluation that there were few things like novel adventures and surprises as critical opinions, but on the other hand, there was an urgent need to be written on the premise of old-fashioned realism. It was definitely a novel that oozes out. "
And about the future, "The Akutagawa Prize is a big gateway for writers in a sense, and the environment may change. However, I am not particular about the Akutagawa Prize, and I escaped from the Akutagawa Prize and wrote a novel that Mr. Sunagawa finds interesting. I want you to write it. "
Naoki Prize Selection Committee Jiro Asada "Two works are difficult to attach"
Regarding the selection process of the Naoki Prize, Jiro Asada, a selection committee member, said, "Three works remained in the first vote, and as a result of the final vote, two works were awarded by collecting the votes against each other. Although it is a work with the theme of the Deaf Castle Battle during the Warring States period, there was no particular discussion about its similarity, and it was an opinion that it would be okay to win the award at the same time because it is an excellent work that is difficult to attach. " Did.
Shogo Imamura's "Kouou no Tate" was evaluated as "a powerful work with a high amount of heat and full of physical strength, and it is an extremely original and very enjoyable entertainment work of the battle of craftsmen."
In addition, Honobu Yonezawa's "Kurodokujo" is a very unique work with a high-quality mystery against the background of the siege battle during the Warring States period. We received opinions such as being easy to read and being good at turning lines. "
Finally, Mr. Asada said, "Both of us are busy, but I am confident that we will be able to calm down and write wonderful works by receiving the Naoki Prize," he said.
A colleague of the bookstore where Mr. Yonezawa worked "I want to brag about working together"
In response to the fact that Honobu Yonezawa's work "Kurojukujo" from Gifu Prefecture was selected for the Naoki Prize, the bookstore in Takayama City, Gifu Prefecture, where Mr. Yonezawa worked, also expressed his joy.
Honobu Yonezawa made his debut as a writer when he was working part-time at a bookstore in Takayama City for about two years after graduating from university.
Immediately before the award-winning work was announced on the 19th, Naoko Hayashizaki, who was working part-time with her at the time and still working at a bookstore, looked back on that time, and Yonezawa was asked to sign by a customer during work. He said that he was impressed by the fact that he responded while responding, and when he came up with a trick for mystery work, he wrote a note on a piece of paper nearby.
At this bookstore, Mr. Yonezawa's works such as "Kurojukujo" were introduced in the special corner from the 17th, but when it was announced that "Kurojukujo" was selected for the Naoki Prize around 6 pm on the 19th. , The clerk said "Wow" and so on, and a paper banner was set up in the special corner to announce the award.
Mr. Hayashizaki said, "I am very happy to receive the award. I want to brag about working with Mr. Yonezawa here."