Hiromi Kawakami is a Japanese writer known for her off-beat fiction, poetry, and literary criticism. She has won numerous Japanese literary awards, including the Akutagawa Prize, the Tanizaki Prize, the Yomiuri Prize, and the Izumi Kyōka Prize for Literature. Her work has been adapted for film, and has been translated into more than 15 languages.
Yasushi Inoue was a Japanese writer of poetry, essays, short fiction, and novels. Born in Asahikawa, Hokkaido in 1907, Inoue was raised in Shizuoka Prefecture.
Mokichi Saitō was a Japanese poet of the Taishō period, a member of the Araragi school of tanka, and a psychiatrist.
Ian Hideo Levy is an American-born Japanese language author. Levy was born in California and educated in Taiwan, the US, and Japan. He is one of the first Americans to write modern literature in Japanese, and his work has won the Noma Literary New Face Prize and the Yomiuri Prize, among other literary prizes.
Yoshikichi Furui is a Japanese author and translator. He has won the Akutagawa Prize, the Tanizaki Prize, and the Yomiuri Prize, among other literary awards.
Junnosuke Yoshiyuki was a Japanese novelist and short-story writer.
The Naoki Prize, officially Naoki Sanjugo Prize, is a Japanese literary award presented semiannually. 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 established author." The winner receives a watch and one million yen.
Toshiyuki Horie is a Japanese author, translator, and scholar of French literature.
Tomoyuki Hoshino is a Japanese writer. He has won the Bungei Prize, the Mishima Yukio Prize, the Noma Literary New Face Prize, the Ōe Kenzaburō Prize, the Yomiuri Prize, and the Tanizaki Prize.
Tatsuo Nagai was a writer of short stories, novels, and essays, active in the Shōwa period Japan, known for his portrayals of city life. Nagai was also known as a haiku poet under the pen-name of "Tomonkyo".
So Aono is an award-winning Japanese novelist. He is the third son of the renowned literary critic Suekichi Aono.
Junzō Shōno was a Japanese novelist. A native of Osaka, he began writing novels after World War II. He won the 1954 Akutagawa Prize for his book Purusaido Shokei. Shōno's other award-winning books include Seibutsu, for which he won the Shinchosha literary prize, Yube no Kumo, which was awarded the 1965 Yomiuri Prize, and Eawase which took the Noma literary prize.
Katsusuke Miyauchi is a noted Japanese author and peace activist.
Hideo Takubo was a noted Japanese author. He studied French literature at Keio University, and won the 61st Akutagawa Prize in 1969 for Fukaikawa, the 37th Yomiuri Prize in 1985 for Kaizu, and the 50th Noma Literary Prize in 1997 for Kodamashu.
Anna Ogino is a Japanese author and professor of literature at Keio University. She has won the Akutagawa Prize, the Yomiuri Prize, and the Itō Sei Literature Prize.
Hiroshi Sakagami is a noted Japanese author. As of 2009, he is also president of the Japan Writers' Association and director of Keio University Press.
Yoshinori Yagi was a noted Japanese author.
Tsuneari Fukuda was a Japanese dramatist, translator, and literary critic. In the 1950s he became known for his satirical play Kitty Typhoon and also The Man Who Stroked a Dragon. He was linked to Shingeki and in 1955 he did a production of Hamlet with Hiroshi Akutagawa, son of Ryūnosuke Akutagawa, playing the lead role. He also wrote a 1957 essay Directing Shakespeare which dealt with his views on the subject of directing Shakespearean plays. Later he did a Japanese version, based on his translation, of A Midsummer Night's Dream. In addition he helped found the Theatre Company Subaru and received the Yomiuri Prize multiple times. Another notable translator of the time, Junji Kinoshita, was quite famous as well.
Natsuko Kuroda is a Japanese writer. At age 75 she won the 148th Akutagawa Prize, making Kuroda the oldest winner in the history of the prize.
Kiyoko Murata is a Japanese writer. She has won the Akutagawa Prize, the Noma Literary Prize, and the Yomiuri Prize, among other literary prizes. The Government of Japan has awarded her the Medal with Purple Ribbon and Order of the Rising Sun, and she has been appointed to the Japan Art Academy. Her work has been adapted for film by Akira Kurosawa and Hideo Onchi.
