The Naoki Prize, officially , is a Japanese literary award presented biannually. It was created in 1935 by Kikuchi Kan, then editor of the Bungeishunjū magazine, and named in memory of novelist Naoki Sanjugo. Sponsored by the Society for the Promotion of Japanese Literature, the award recognizes "the best work of popular literature in any format by a new, rising, or (reasonably young) established author." The winner receives a watch and one million yen.
Kikuchi founded the Naoki Prize with the Akutagawa Prize, which targets a new or rising author of literary fiction. The two prizes are viewed as "two sides of the same coin" and inseparable from one another. Because of the prestige associated with the Naoki Prize and the considerable attention the winner receives from the media, it, along with the Akutagawa Prize, is one of Japan's most sought after literary awards of recognition.
Winners
Bungeishunjū maintains the official archive of past Naoki Prize winners.
1st–100th 19351Matsutarō Kawaguchi,,2Uko Washio, etc.19363Chōgorō Kaionji,4Takatarō Kigi 19375No prize awarded 6Masuji Ibuse, etc.19387Sotoo Tachibana8Tadao Ooike,19399No prize awarded 10No prize awarded 194011Chiyo TsutsumiSensuke Kawachi, etc.12Genzō Murakami, etc.194113Sōjū Kimura14No prize awarded 194215No prize awarded 16Norio TaokaTakio Kanzaki, etc., etc.194317No prize awarded(Shūgorō Yamamoto's was chosen, but he declined the prize.)18Sōichi Mori, 194419Seizō Okada20No prize awarded 194921Tsuneo Tomita,22Katsurō Yamada195023Hidemi KonItoko Koyama24Kazuo Dan195125Keita Genji,,26Juran HisaoRenzaburō Shibata195227Shinji Fujiwara, etc.28Nobuyuki Tateno195329No prize awarded30No prize awarded195431Yorichika Arima32Haruo UmezakiYukio Togawa195533No prize awarded34Jirō NittaEikan Kyū195635Norio NanjōKanichi Kon 36Tōkō KonMiharu Hozumi195737Masanori Esaki38No prize awarded195839Toyoko YamasakiEiji Shinba40Saburō ShiroyamaKyō Takigawa1959 41Kieko WatanabeYumie Hiraiwa 42Ryōtarō ShibaYasuji Toita196043Shōtarō Ikenami44Daikichi TerauchiJūgo Kuroiwa 196145Tsutomu Minakami46Keiichi Itō196247Hisahide Sugimori48Hitomi YamaguchiSonoko Sugimoto196349Tokuji Satō50Tsuruo AndōYoshie Wada196451No prize awarded52Michiko NagaiAtsuko Anzai196553Shigeo Fujii54Yūkichi ShinbashiJihei Chiba196655Masaaki Tachihara56Hiroyuki Itsuki196757Jirō Ikushima 58Akiyuki NosakaTooru Miyoshi, 196859No prize awarded60Shunshin ChinMitsugu Saotome196961Aiko Satō62No prize awarded197063Junichi WatanabeYūki Shōji64Jō Toyoda197165No prize awarded66No prize awarded197267Hisashi InoueKenjō Tsunabuchi68No prize awarded197369Shuhei FujisawaEmbassy of Japan in the UKHideo Osabe, 70No prize awarded197471Giichi Fujimoto72Ryō HanmuraMagoroku Ide197573No prize awarded74Ryuzo Saki197675No prize awarded76Kyōzō Miyoshi197777No prize awarded78No prize awarded197879Yō TsumotoTakehiro Irokawa80Tomiko MiyaoNatsuo Ariake 197981Takashi Atōda– Kyoto SUKomimasa Tanaka, 82No prize awarded198083Kuniko MukōdaKageki Shimoda, , 84Masanori Nakamura198185Yukio Aoshima86Kôhei TsukaAkira Mitsuoka198287Yūsuke FukadaTomomi Muramatsu88No prize awarded198389Kōshi Kurumizawa90Takurō KankiOsamu Takahashi198491Mikihiko RenjōToshizō Nanba 92No prize awarded198593Yōko Yamaguchi,94Seigo MoritaMariko Hayashi, 198695Hiroko Minagawa96Gō ŌsakaShinpei Tokiwa1987Museion site – winners to 200597Amy YamadaIchirō Shiraishi98Makio Abe198899Tamio KageyamaMasaaki Nishiki, 100Akiko SugimotoShizuko Tōdō
101st to present 1989101Nejime ShōichiAkira Sasakura 102Seiji HashikawaRyō Hara 1990103Tsumao Awasaka 104Kaoru Furukawa1991105Masamitsu MiyagitaniSunao Ashihara106Yoshio TakahashiKatsuhiko Takahashi1992107Shizuka Ijūin108Tatsurō Dekune1993109Kaoru TakamuraAiko Kitahara110Arimasa OsawaMasayoshi Satō1994111Akihiko NakamuraYasuhisa Ebisawa112No prize awarded 1995113Shun Akasegawa114Mariko KoikeIori Fujiwara1996Kodansha115Asa Nonami116Masako Bandō1997117Setsuko ShinodaJirō Asada118No prize awarded 1998119Chōkitsu Kurumatani120Miyuki Miyabe1999121Kenichi SatōNatsuo Kirino122Rei Nakanishi2000123Yoichi FunadoKazuki KaneshiroGo124Kiyoshi ShigematsuFumio Yamamoto2001125Yoshinaga FujitaAnnounced July 18th 2001 Japan Weekly Monitor, Kyodo News International, Tokyo, Japan July 23rd 2001 126Ichiriki YamamotoKei Yuikawa2002127Yuzaburō Otokawa 128No prize awarded2003129Ira IshidaYuka Murayama130Kaori EkuniNatsuhiko Kyogoku2004131Hideo OkudaTatsuya Kumagai132Mitsuyo Kakuta2005133Minato Shukawa134Keigo Higashino2006135Shion MiuraEto Mori 136No prize awarded 2007137Kesako Matsui138Kazuki Sakuraba2008139Areno Inoue140Arata TendoKen'ichi Yamamoto2009141Kaoru Kitamura142Jō Sasaki Kazufumi Shiraishi2010143Kyōko Nakajima144Nobori KiuchiShūsuke Michio2011145Jun Ikeido146Rin Hamuro2012147Mizuki Tsujimura148Asai RyoAbe Ryutaro2013149Shino Sakuragi150Makate AsaiKaoruko Himeno2014151Hiroyuki Kurokawa152Kanako Nishi2015153Akira Higashiyama154Bunpei Aoyama2016155Hiroshi Ogiwara156Riku Onda2017157Shogo Sato158Yoshinobu Kadoi2018159Rio Shimamoto160Junjō Shindō2019161Masumi Oshima162Soichi Kawagoe2020163Hase Seishū164Naka Saijo2021165Toko SawadaNorikazu Sato166Shogo ImamuraHonobu Yonezawa2022167Misumi Kubo168Satoshi OgawaAkane Chihaya2023169Ryōsuke KakineSayako Nagai170Akiko KawasakiManabu Makime2024171Michi Ichiho172Shin Iyohara2025173No prize awarded 174Teru Shimazu2026175Kasumi Asakura
Winners and nominees available in English translation
Winners 1961 (45th) - Tsutomu Mizukami, The Temple of the Wild Geese (In The Temple of the Wild Geese and Bamboo Dolls of Echizen, trans. Dennis C. Washburn, Dalkey Archive Press, 2008) 1967 (57th) - Akiyuki Nosaka, American Hijiki (In The Penguin Book of Japanese Short Stories, trans. Jay Rubin, Penguin Books, 2017) / Grave of the Fireflies, trans. Ginny Tapley Takemori, Penguin Classics, 2025. 1973 (69th) - Hideo Osabe, Tsugaru Jonkarabushi and Tsugaru Yosarebushi (In Voices from the Snow, trans. James N. Westerhoven, Hirosaki University Press, 2009) 1979 (81st) - Takashi Atōda, "Napoleon Crazy", "The Visitor", and "The Transparent Fish" (In Napoleon Crazy and Other Stories, trans. Stanleigh H. Jones, Kodansha International, 1986) / "Of Golf and Its Beginnings" and "A Treatise on Count St. German" (In The Square Persimmon and Other Stories, trans. Millicent M. Horton, Tuttle Publishing, 1991) 1986 (96th) - Go Osaka, The Red Star of Cadiz (trans. Usha Jayaraman, Kurodahan Press, 2008) 1993 (109th) - Aiko Kitahara, The Budding Tree (trans. Ian MacDonald, Dalkey Archive Press, 2008) 1996 (115th) - Asa Nonami, The Hunter (trans. Juliet Winters Carpenter, Kodansha International, 2006) 1997 (117th) - Jirō Asada, The Stationmaster (trans. Terry Gallagher, Viz Media, 2009) 1998 (119th) - Chōkitsu Kurumatani, The Paradise Bird Tattoo (trans. Kenneth J. Bryson, Counterpoint, 2010) 2000 (123rd) Yoichi Funado, May in the Valley of the Rainbow (trans. Eve Alison Nyren, Vertical, 2006) Kazuki Kaneshiro, Go (trans. Takami Nieda, AmazonCrossing, 2018) 2005 (134th) - Keigo Higashino, The Devotion of Suspect X (trans. Alexander O. Smith, Minotaur Books, 2011) 2010 (143rd) - Kyoko Nakajima, The Little House (trans. Ginny Tapley Takemori, Darf Publishing, 2019) 2015 (153rd) - Akira Higashiyama, Ryu (trans. Alison Watts, 26letters, 2025) 2016 (156th) - Riku Onda, Honeybees and Distant Thunder (trans. Philip Gabriel, Pegasus Books, 2023) 2018 (159th) - Rio Shimamoto, First Love (trans. Louise Heal Kawai, Honford Star, 2024) 2020 (163rd) - Hase Seishū, The Boy and the Dog (trans. Alison Watts, Viking Press, 2022) 2021 (166th) - Honobu Yonezawa, The Samurai and the Prisoner (trans. Giuseppe di Martino, Yen Press, 2023)
Nominees 1938 (7th) - Sakae Kubo, Land of Volcanic Ash (trans. David G. Goodman, Cornell University East Asia Program, 1986) 1963 (49th) - Toshiyuki Kajiyama, The Remembered Shadow of the Yi Dynasty (In The Clan Records: Five Stories of Korea, trans. Yoshiko Dykstra, University of Hawaii Press, 1995) 1963 (50th) - Masako Togawa, The Lady Killer (trans. Simon Grove, Pushkin Press, 2018) 1983 (89th) - Kenzo Kitakata, The Cage (trans. Paul Warham, Vertical, 2006) 1986 (95th) - Keiichiro Ryu, The Blade of the Courtesans (trans. James M. Vardaman, Vertical, 2008) 1988 (100th) - Joh Sasaki, Zero Over Berlin (trans. Hiroko Yoda, Vertical, 2004) 1991 (105th) - Miyuki Miyabe, The Sleeping Dragon (trans. Deborah Iwabuchi, Kodansha International, 2009) 1996 (115th) - Koji Suzuki, Dark Water (trans. Glynne Walley, Vertical, 2004) 1997 (118th) - Natsuo Kirino, Out (trans. Stephen Snyder, Vintage Books, 2005) 1998 (120th) Keigo Higashino, Naoko (trans. Kerim Yasar, Vertical, 2004) Hideo Yokoyama, Prefecture D (trans. Jonathan Lloyd-Davies, Riverrun, 2019) 1999 (122nd) - Keigo Higashino, Journey Under the Midnight Sun (trans. Alexander O. Smith, Little, Brown, 2015) 2001 (126th) - Ira Ishida, Call Boy (trans. Lamar Stone, Shueisha, 2013) 2004 (132nd) - Kōtarō Isaka, 3 Assassins (trans. Sam Malissa, Harvill Secker, 2022) 2005 (133rd) Hideo Furukawa, Belka, Why Don't You Bark? (trans. Michael Emmerich, Viz Media, 2012) Akiko Itoyama, In Pursuit of Lavender (trans. Charles de Wolf, Anthem Press, 2013) 2007 (137th) Kazuki Sakuraba, Red Girls: The Legend of the Akakuchibas (trans. Jocelyne Allen, Viz Media, 2015) Tomihiko Morimi, The Night is Short, Walk on Girl (trans. Emily Balistrieri, Yen Press, 2019) 2011 (145th) - Kazuaki Takano, Genocide of One (trans. Philip Gabriel, Mulholland Books, 2014) 2015 (153rd) - Asako Yuzuki, Hooked (trans. Polly Barton, Ecco Press, 2026) 2015 (154th) - Natsu Miyashita, The Forest of Wool and Steel (trans. Philip Gabriel, Doubleday, 2019) 2017 (157th) - Asako Yuzuki, Butter (trans. Polly Barton, Ecco Press, 2024)
Current members of the selection committee (As of 2024) Jirō Asada Kakuta Mitsuyo Natsuhiko Kyogoku Natsuo Kirino Kaoru Takamura (ja) Mariko Hayashi (ja) Shion Miura Miyuki Miyabe
See also List of Japanese literary awards
References
External links J'Lit | Awards : Naoki Prize | Books from Japan