The selection committee for the 168th Akutagawa Prize and the Naoki Prize was held in Tokyo on the 19th, and two works were selected for the Naoki Prize: Satoshi Ogawa's "Map and Fist" and Akane Chihaya's "Shirogane no Ha".
Satoshi Ogawa's award-winning work "Map and Fist"
Tetsu Ogawa, who won the Naoki Prize, is 36 years old from Chiba Prefecture.
He began writing his novels while in graduate school at the University of Tokyo and made his debut in 2015 with the sci-fi novel This Side of Utronica.
The Naoki Prize was awarded for the second time following the short story "Lies and Masanori" announced in 2019.
The award-winning work "Map and Fist" is a historical fantasy novel set in Manchuria in northeastern China from the end of the 19th century to the 1950s. Many characters appear, such as a Russian missionary who continues to survey, and a Chinese female soldier who seeks revenge on her father and the Japanese.
The action of surveying and building in search of a place to live, and the war to seize territory and resources, are superimposed on the relationship between "map" and "fist", and the appearance of each character surviving a rapidly changing era is powerful. It is drawn in a certain style.
Although it is fictional, it carefully depicts aspects of Japan's modern history, which has had a deep relationship with the continent, with a thorough attention to detail, such as the design of the city and scenes of battle.
Akane Chihaya's award-winning work "Shirogane Leaf"
Akane Chihaya, who won the Naoki Prize, is 43 years old from Hokkaido.
After she graduated from college, she made her debut in 2008 when she won her novel Subaru Newcomer Award with "Uogami".
After that, in addition to winning the Izumi Kyoka Literary Award for "Uogami", "Atokata" announced in 2013 and "Otoko Tomodachi" announced the following year were nominated for the Naoki Prize two years in a row. , This time, it was awarded as a candidate for the third time.
Her award-winning work, Shirogane no Ha, is Chihaya's first historical novel set in the Iwami Ginzan Silver Mine at the end of the Warring States period.
Based on the folklore that ``a woman in Iwami married three husbands,'' which shows how short-lived miners were at the time, Ume, a girl who was picked up by a charlatan looking for silver veins, was born into the world of the times. It depicts a figure that survives strongly while resisting change.
In a world where life and death are side by side, the feelings and way of life of the main character, who risked his life to love the silver mine and the men, despite being hurt by men who were obsessed with the charm of silver, are expressed in a rich style. increase.