173rd Akutagawa and Naoki Prizes Announce No Winners, First Time in 27 Years

The 173rd Akutagawa Ryunosuke Prize and Naoki Sanjugo Prize have both announced that there are "no suitable works" (no winners). This marks an unprecedented situation, occurring for the sixth time and first in 27 and a half years since January 1998 (118th awards), sending significant ripples through the literary world and reading community.

On the 16th, the Society for the Promotion of Japanese Literature announced the selection results for both awards. For the Akutagawa Prize, two nominated works advanced to a runoff vote, but neither managed to secure a majority of support. Six works were nominated for the Naoki Prize, but ultimately, no winning work was selected.

Hiromi Kawakami, one of the selection committee members, issued a pained comment, stating, "Each work had new perspectives and attempts, but I felt they needed to push just a bit further. It's regrettable that we couldn't select a winner." While acknowledging certain merits in the nominated works, she suggested that they lacked the "decisive quality" befitting Japan's top literary prize.

Following this unusual announcement, numerous voices of surprise and confusion were seen on the SNS platform X (formerly Twitter), with comments such as "No winner!?", "Is that even possible?", "Disappointing," and "Boring." On the other hand, positive opinions such as "The stance of not forcing a selection is commendable" and "Perhaps it's good to take a breather" were also observed, alongside readers' constructive responses like "I'll take this opportunity to read all the nominated works."

In particular, concerns have been raised by those in the bookstore industry, who annually anticipate winning works to enliven store shelves, with comments like "It's a blow to bookstores" and "I'm worried about display arrangements." However, it has also been pointed out that this outcome could conversely increase attention towards all nominated works, potentially serving as an opportunity for bookstores to create innovative and engaging displays.

The simultaneous announcement of "no suitable works" for the first time in 27 and a half years has prompted a re-evaluation of the current state of Japanese pure literature and entertainment novels, as well as the role of literary awards. Attention is now focused on how readers, writers, and bookstores will respond to this situation and what impact it will have on the future of the literary world.

The context

The Akutagawa Ryunosuke Prize and the Naoki Sanjugo Prize are two of Japan's most prestigious literary awards, established in 1935 by the Society for the Promotion of Japanese Literature. The Akutagawa Prize is awarded biannually to a promising new work of pure literature by an emerging author, while the Naoki Prize recognizes the best work of popular (entertainment) fiction by a more established author. Both prizes are highly anticipated events in the Japanese literary calendar, with winning works typically seeing a massive surge in sales and often gaining significant media attention. The decision to declare "no suitable work" (該当作なし, gaigakusaku nashi) is extremely rare, reflecting the selection committee's conviction that none of the nominated works met the exceptionally high standards required for the honor. The last time both prizes simultaneously had no winners was in 1998, making this a truly remarkable and noteworthy event in the Japanese literary world.