Photo/Illutration Aki Asahina speaks to reporters on July 17 in Tokyo’s Chiyoda Ward after winning the Akutagawa Prize for literature. (Naoko Kawamura)

Aki Asahina, a part-time doctor who won the prestigious Akutagawa Prize for literature on July 17, confessed that he never read novels and never intended to become a writer.

Nearly 10 years ago, when Asahina was in his mid-30s and working as a full-time gastroenterologist, an image suddenly popped into his head while writing a medical paper.

He started writing on his computer—and couldn’t stop. It became a 400-page manuscript. Since then, he has kept writing whatever comes to mind.

“If I’m going to write it, I might as well have people read it,” he thought, and began sending manuscripts to literary competitions. In 2021, he won a newcomer award.

Asahina’s latest work was created the same way: “I started writing what came to mind and this is what happened.”

His Akutagawa Prize-winning novel “Sanshouo no shijukunichi" (Salamander’s 49 days) revolves around conjoined twins, sisters who were born with their heads, chests and stomachs connected. The story explores the intertwining of their thoughts and sensations.

Since his debut, Asahina’s work has focused on physicality in medical and philosophical contexts.

His characters must navigate extraordinary physical circumstances, such as a college student with a colostomy, a woman whose mother is in a vegetative state and a man who has undergone a left-hand transplant.

“I feel what comes to mind all the way down to my internal organs and immerse myself in it,” he said. “That’s how I try to understand my own work.”

His passion for writing even spilled over into his medical practice. Stories kept intruding into his mind while working with patients, posing a risk of medical errors. This led him to make the difficult decision to quit his job at the hospital.

Now he works as a part-time doctor a few days a month.

“To tell the truth, I want to take a break from writing for a while,” he said with a wry smile.

He continues to write, driven by the stories that well up within him.

Asahina shared the 171th Akutagawa Prize with Sanzo K. Matsunaga, who won the award for his novel “Barisanko.”

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