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Hyouka Author Honobu Yonezawa's Kokurōjō Novel Wins Naoki Prize
posted on by Alex Mateo
Novelist Honobu Yonezawa (HYOUKA) won the 166th Naoki Prize for literature for his Kokurōjō novel.
Kokurōjō also won the 12th Yamada Fūtarō Prize in October 2021. The novel is based on the imprisonment of historical figure Kuroda Kanbei by Araki Murashige, a retainer of Oda Nobunaga, following a rebellion at Arioka Castle. The story revolves around mysterious incidents that follow, including a locked-room murder.
Yonezawa's short story collection Mangan was nominated for the 151st Naoki Prize in 2014, but it did not win. Yonezawa's Shinjitsu no 10 Meter Temae novel was nominated for the 155th Naoki Prize in 2016, but it also did not win.
Shōgo Imamura also won the 166th Naoki Prize for his novel Saiо̄ no Tate.
The Naoki Prize is a biannual Japanese literary award that recognizes new and rising authors.
Yonezawa published HYOUKA, the series' first novel, in 2001, and it inspired Kyoto Animation's 22-episode television anime adaptation in 2012, as well as a manga adaptation in Kadokawa's Monthly Shōnen Ace magazine.
The story of HYOUKA follows a boy named Hōtarō who is not assertive about getting involved, but was ordered by his older sister to join the classic literature club. In the club, he gets close to the truth about an incident, involving a female member's uncle, which happened 33 years ago. The "energy-saving" boy is joined by an inquisitive girl in this adolescent mystery.
Yonezawa also wrote the Shōshimin mystery novel series that has had several manga adaptations, including Anko Manjūya's Shunki Gentei Ichigo Tart Jiken (The Case of the Springtime Limited-Edition Strawberry Tart).
Source: NHK via Hachima Kikо̄
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