Photo/Illutration Staff at the Sendai bookstore where Akutagawa Prize winner Atsushi Sato works hold up a banner to celebrate his achievement on Jan. 19. (Arata Mitsui)

SENDAI--The quiet environment where Atsushi Sato works as a bookstore clerk was turned upsidedown after he won the prestigious Akutagawa Prize for his novel “Arechi no Kazoku” (A family in the wasteland).

The store manager, Satoshi Ishihara, had booked an entire restaurant in the building where the shop is located for staff to watch a live online broadcast of the proceedings Jan. 19.

Loud cheering erupted around 6:10 p.m. as the winners were being announced.

It was the first time that Sato, 40, had been nominated for the award, which marks him as an up-and-coming author.

The resident of the Miyagi prefectural capital works at the Maruzen Sendai Aer bookstore here and writes novels in his free time. 

His award-winning work was published by Shinchosha Publishing Co.

“People in my hometown really wanted to see me win, so I felt the pressure to live up to their expectations,” Sato said at a news conference where he expressed relief at rising to the challenge.

Ishihara, 46, described Sato “as very courteous to customers.”

He said he was thrilled when he heard Sato had won the award.

“I’m so proud of my colleague. I want people to come to our store because they can meet the Akutagawa winner here,” he said.

The day of the announcement came on the release date for the prize-winning work.

A special corner was set up at the store for around 200 copies of the book, including autographed ones. They all sold out before the store closed.

The novel touches on the 2011 earthquake and tsunami disaster that devastated the northeastern Tohoku region, including Sato’s hometown of Miyagi Prefecture.

“I wrote about the view I see when I look back on the disaster from the current point,” he said. “I hope this will help keep people’s memories of (the disaster) from fading away.”

Aki Akama, 56, a deputy librarian of the Sendai Literature Museum, was clearly impressed as she watched the news conference.

“He was really making steady progress at becoming a good writer while making his daily work count,” she said. “I’m very pleased to see him receive this prestigious award.”

Sato studied English literature when he attended Tohoku Gakuin University.

“He was a hardworking and quiet student,” his professor, Yasuo Uematsu, 69, recalled. “Novelists need the ability to make their fiction convincing, and I felt he had it through this novel. I’m looking forward to his next work.”

Sato said at the news conference that he intends to continue with his daily regimen of writing every day. He added that he will go back to work at the bookstore from Jan. 21.

Another winner of the 168th Akutagawa Prize was Iko Idogawa, 35, for her novel titled “Konoyo no Yorokobiyo” (Joy of this world).

Satoshi Ogawa, 36, and Akane Chihaya, 43, won the Naoki Prizes, respectively, for “Chizu to Kobushi” (Map and fist) and “Shirogane no ha” (Silver leaf).

The awards were hosted by the Society for the Promotion of Japanese Literature.

(This article was written by Arata Mitsui, Masahiro Takahashi and Mamie Kawai.)

Related News