Manabu Manjome won the Naoki Prize for “August Gosho Ground.”
Manjome, who was born in Osaka and graduated from Kyoto University, has gained popularity for works set in the Kansai region, such as ``Kamogawa Hormo'' and ``Princess Toyotomi.''
How is this bizarre development, also known as the ``Manjome World'', created?
Also, are you curious about the next work?
We asked Mr. Manjome a lot.
Autograph session with plenty of “chat”
Autograph session held in Kyoto to commemorate the Naoki Prize.
Manjome seemed to be having fun interacting with the 100 fans who had gathered.
(Junior high school student) ``My parents recommended ``Princess Toyotomi'' so I read it.''
(Manjome) ``Wasn't it thick?''
(Junior high school student) ``At school, we had a morning reading class every morning.''
( Manjome) "Have you decided on a high school yet?"
(Junior high school student) "You're about to take the entrance exams."
(Manjome) "Good luck studying for the entrance exams."
For fans whose birthdays are next week.
``Shall I write something?'' I asked, and I added the words ``Happy Birthday'' to my signature.
The atmosphere was like a "chat meeting" and the two hours went by in the blink of an eye.
We asked all the fans who had gathered to ask questions to Mr. Manjome, and after the autograph session, we sat down with him to hear more about him.
Q: You were amazing at the autograph session.
Manabu Manjome
had a lot of people come and it was fun.
It differs from region to region, and people in Kansai easily cross the line when talking to you (lol).People in Tokyo don't talk at all.
Most of the time, I get to say "Thank you."
The only time he talks to me like it's normal is at the autograph session in Kansai.
It's really fun though.
“Just being nominated for the Naoki Award is an honor.”
Q: There are many people who love “Manjome World”, but up until now they had no connection with the Naoki Prize.
How does it feel to receive the award?
Mr. Manabu Manjome,
I don't think he will take it again, without being humble.
I kept thinking negatively, ``I'm going to fail anyway, and I'm going to feel bad again,'' and I told myself not to even realize that I was nominated.
When I felt that way, I was really surprised and thought, ``I never thought I'd win!''
But being nominated means that I've been included in 5 or 6 of the many books published in six months.
I was really happy to be nominated, regardless of whether it was selected as the first film or not.
When I was nominated, they said, ``You're still okay,'' and that alone was an honor.
There is something extraordinary in the everyday
“August Gosho Ground” won the Naoki Prize.
This collection includes two stories about young people who experience phantom-like encounters set in Kyoto.
``December's Miyakooji Descendance'' is a short story about a high school girl who has no sense of direction and takes on the Miyakooji National High School Ekiden as a pinch runner.
While running, you will encounter a strange event.
The main character of “August Gosho Ground” is a university student.
To pay off his debt, he is forced to participate in a mysterious baseball tournament held at the Imperial Palace grounds in the early morning.
What appeared there was a legendary pitcher who was supposed to be dead...
The selection committee for the Naoki Prize highly praised the work, saying, ``The exquisiteness and balance of how the extraordinary slips into the ordinary is wonderful.''
Reality is 9 and fantasy is 1
Q: How do you make your fantasy feel real?
Mr. Manabu Manjome:
When it comes to the real story and the fantasy part, it's ``9 for real and 1 for fantasy.''
There are a lot of things like that that are incredibly real, and only about 10% of them are impossible.
10% or 20%.
When I read that, it feels like it's about 50%.
If I overdo it, I become a liar, so when I write, I tend to be more restrained.
In particular, I was very conscious of ending the final shape by opening it up instead of closing it.
I don't write everything until the end, and when the reader closes the book, it leaves a lingering impression in the reader's mind, and the baton of imagination is handed over to them, thinking, ``What will happen next?'' That's how I feel. I am writing this.
I'm often asked what happens after this person, but I don't think about anything, I just focus on opening and finishing.
Where do your ideas come from?
We also asked questions from fans.
Mr. Manabu Manjome
, I've never written a novel before, so I'm wondering what you'd do with something like this, but surprisingly, once you've written a novel, you'll come up with ideas.
Maybe everyone will come out.
The difference comes in combining them into one book.
I think everyone will come up with some crazy ideas, I don't know (lol)
, but I think it's actually just a few seconds.
I spend several years writing the first minute or two of an idea, and then I spend a year writing about it, so even if someone tells me about it later, I don't understand it.
But I can understand why you're concerned about that.
I also ask people the same question when it comes to works created by other people, such as "Why do you think this way?", but no one can give a straight answer, and everyone just says, "What should I do?" The only answer I received was the answer I gave.
I also asked, “Why?”
Manabu Manjome's
``August Imperial Palace Ground'' also contains the essence of his own reality.
When I was in college, I had a softball tournament or baseball game once or twice, and the venue was the grounds inside the Kyoto Imperial Palace.
It was the No. 8 hit in right field, a so-called light hit, and it was a perfect combination of players, but it was my first time hitting a hit.
There's a scene in the novel where a woman hits a hit, and I remember what it felt like at that time.
This work incorporates things I've experienced and heard quite a lot here and there, and I think it's important to include details, or rather, it makes it come alive.
How do you choose a theme?
Manabu Manjome:
That was just a random idea, and I thought it would be interesting.
It's better to play with that.
It's better to choose a soft topic rather than a formal one.
The important thing is whether or not you have the strength to finish a novel in one year.
There's a strange scene in the middle of ``December's Miyakodaiji,'' and that's the first thing that came to mind.
After that, I covered high school relay races for about 6 years before it became okay to write my own.
I watched not only the national competition, but also the local competition, and I realized that this is the kind of kids that run.
This is what it would be like to talk.
It's a short story, but it took about six years to make, so my editor said, ``Wouldn't it be a little longer if it took six years?'' But it's a super-sized short story.
What is the charm of Kyoto?
Manabu Manjome:
There is definitely a magnetic force that can only be found in Kyoto.
Is it said that just by writing about Shijo Karasuma or Karasuma-dori, a magnetic force suddenly emanates from you?
It's supposed to be the same whether it's Midosuji or National Route 1, but for some reason, just walking down Karasuma-dori makes me feel like something's going to happen.
This time, the stage is the Imperial Palace grounds, but everyone's memories are the same.
An 80-year-old person, a 50-year-old person close to me, a 20-year-old person's Imperial Palace grounds...
It hasn't changed for a long time, so you can imagine the same scenery.
Writing a story with a multilayered accumulation of time has a certain strength to it.
It's like the city's pockets support it.
What is the setting for your next work?
Manabu Manjome:
I'm thinking of writing another story set in Kyoto, so it's like a series of stories.
Actually, I added another short story based on what I was planning to include in this work.
I wish I could write with the same balance as this time.
I have images of 3 or 4 works in my head.
Manabu Manjome
is about 70% done.
I have plans in my head to write about three or four of these, but I'm a slow writer, so I think it will take five or six years to write all three or four.
It would be great if we could turn 5 or 6 years into 3 or 4 years.
I want to write as quickly as possible, but I've proven in a few weeks that winning the Naoki Prize won't speed up my writing (lol).