Winners • 1936 (4th) -
Jun Ishikawa,
The Bodhisattva (trans. William J. Tyler,
Columbia University Press, 1990) • 1937 (5th) -
Kazuo Ozaki,
Rosy Glasses (in
Rosy Glasses and Other Stories, trans. Robert Epp, Paul Norbury Publications, 1988) • 1949 (22nd) -
Yasushi Inoue,
The Bullfight (trans. Michael Emmerich,
Pushkin Press, 2013) • 1953 (29th) -
Shōtarō Yasuoka,
Bad Company (in
A View by the Sea, trans. Karen Wigen Lewis, Columbia University Press, 1984) • 1954 (31st) -
Junnosuke Yoshiyuki,
Sudden Shower (In
New Writing in Japan, trans.
Geoffrey Bownas,
Penguin, 1972) • 1954 (32nd) •
Nobuo Kojima,
The American School (In
Contemporary Japanese Literature, trans. William F. Sibley,
Alfred A. Knopf, 1977) •
Junzo Shono,
Evenings at the Pool (In
Still Life and Other Stories, trans. Wayne P. Lammers, Stone Bridge Press, 1992) • 1955 (33rd) -
Shūsaku Endō,
White Man (In
White Man, Yellow Man, trans. Teruyo Shimizu, Paulist Press, 2014) • 1955 (34th) -
Shintaro Ishikawa,
Season of Violence (In
Season of Violence, trans. John G. Mills, Toshie Takahama, and Ken Tremayne,
Tuttle, 1966) • 1957 (38th) -
Takeshi Kaiko,
The Naked King (In
Japan Quarterly, vol. 24, no. 2, trans. Howard Curtis, 1977) • 1958 (39th) -
Kenzaburō Ōe,
Prize Stock (In
Teach Us to Outgrow Our Madness, trans.
John Nathan,
Grove Press, 1977) • 1960 (44th) -
Tetsuo Miura,
A Portrait of Shino (In
Shame in the Blood, trans. Andrew Driver, Catapult, 2007) • 1963 (49th) -
Taeko Kono,
Crabs (In
Toddler-Hunting and Other Stories, trans. Lucy North,
New Directions Publishing, 1996) • 1965 (53rd) -
Setsuko Tsumura,
Playthings (In
Japan Quarterly, vol. 27, no. 1, trans. Kyoko Evanhoe and Robert N. Lawson, 1980) • 1967 (57th) -
Tatsuhiro Ōshiro,
The Cocktail Party (In
Okinawa: Two Postwar Novellas, trans.
Steve Rabson, Institute of East Asian Studies, 1989) • 1968 (59th) -
Minako Oba,
The Three Crabs (in
This Kind of Woman: Ten Stories by Japanese Women Writers, 1960-1976, trans. Yukiko Tanaka and Elizabeth Hanson,
Stanford University Press, 1982) • 1970 (64th) -
Yoshikichi Furui,
Yoko (In
Child of Darkness: Yoko and Other Stories, trans. Donna George Storey,
University of Michigan Center for Japanese Studies, 1997) • 1971 (66th) •
Kaisei Ri,
The Woman Who Fulled Clothes (In
Flowers of Fire: Twentieth-Century Korean Stories, trans. Beverly Nelson,
University of Hawaii Press, 1986) •
Mineo Higashi,
Child of Okinawa (In
Okinawa: Two Postwar Novellas, trans.
Steve Rabson, Institute of East Asian Studies, 1989) • 1972 (68th) •
Michiko Yamamoto,
Betty-san (In
Betty-san, trans.
Geraldine Harcourt,
Kodansha International, 1985) •
Shizuko Gō,
Requiem (trans.
Geraldine Harcourt,
Kodansha International, 1983) • 1975 (73rd) -
Kyoko Hayashi,
Ritual of Death (In
Nuke Rebuke: Writers and Artists against Nuclear Energy and Weapons, trans. Kyoko Selden, The Spirit That Moves Us Press, 1984) • 1975 (74th) -
Kenji Nakagami,
The Cape (In
The Cape and Other Stories from the Japanese Ghetto, trans. Eve Zimmerman,
Stone Bridge Press, 1999) • 1976 (75th) -
Ryū Murakami,
Almost Transparent Blue (trans.
Nancy Andrew,
Kodansha International, 1977) • 1977 (78th) -
Teru Miyamoto,
River of Fireflies (in
Rivers, trans. Roger K. Thomas and Ralph McCarthy, Kurodahan Press, 2014) • 1979 (81st) -
Yoshiko Shigekane,
The Smoke in the Mountain Valley (In
Mississippi Review, vol. 39, no. 1/3, trans. John Wilson and Motoko Naruse, 2012) • 1981 (85th) -
Rie Yoshiyuki,
The Little Lady (In
Japanese Literature Today, no. 7, trans.
Geraldine Harcourt, 1982) • 1984 (92nd) -
Satoko Kizaki,
The Phoenix Tree (In
The Phoenix Tree and Other Stories, trans. Carol A. Flath,
Kodansha International, 1990) • 1985 (94th) -
Fumiko Kometani,
Passover (In
Passover, trans. by the author,
Carroll and Graf, 1989) • 1987 (97th) -
Kiyoko Murata,
In the Pot (In
Japanese Women Writers: Twentieth Century Short Fiction, trans. Kyoko Iriye Seldon,
Routledge, 2015) • 1987 (98th) •
Natsuki Ikezawa,
Still Life (In
Still Lives, trans.
Dennis Keene,
Kodansha International, 1997) •
Kiyohiro Miura, ''He's Leaving Home: My Young Son Becomes a Zen Monk'' (trans. Jeff Shore,
Tuttle, 1996) • 1990 (104th) -
Yōko Ogawa,
Pregnancy Diary (In
The Diving Pool, trans. Stephen Snyder,
Picador, 2008) • 1992 (108th) -
Yoko Tawada,
The Bridegroom was a Dog (In
The Bridegroom was a Dog, trans. Margaret Mitsutani,
Kodansha International, 2003) • 1993 (110th) -
Hikaru Okuizumi,
The Stones Cry Out (trans. James Westerhoven,
Harcourt, 1999) • 1996 (115th) -
Hiromi Kawakami,
Record of a Night Too Brief (trans. Lucy North,
Pushkin Press, 2017) • 1997 (117th) -
Shun Medoruma,
Droplets (In
Southern Exposure: Modern Japanese Literature from Okinawa, trans. Michael Molasky,
University of Hawaii Press, 2000) • 1998 (120th) -
Keiichiro Hirano,
Eclipse (trans. Brent de Chene and Charles De Wolf,
Columbia University Press, 2024) • 2000 (123rd) -
Kō Machida,
Rip It Up (trans. Daniel Joseph, Mercurial Editions, 2022) • 2000 (124th) -
Toshiyuki Horie,
The Bear and the Paving Stone (In
The Bear and the Paving Stone, trans. Geraint Howells,
Pushkin Press, 2018) • 2003 (130th) •
Hitomi Kanehara,
Snakes and Earrings (trans. David Karashima,
Dutton, 2005) •
Risa Wataya,
I Want to Kick You in the Back (trans. Julianne Neville, One Peace Books, 2015) • 2005 (133rd) -
Fuminori Nakamura,
The Boy in the Earth (trans. Allison Markin Powell,
Soho Crime, 2017) • 2005 (134th) -
Akiko Itoyama,
Waiting in the Offing (In
Words Without Borders, April 2007, trans. Charles De Wolf) • 2006 (136th) -
Nanae Aoyama,
A Perfect Day to Be Alone (trans. Jesse Kirkwood, MacLehose Press, 2024) • 2011 (146th) •
Toh EnJoe,
Harlequin Butterfly (trans. David Boyd,
Pushkin Press, 2024) •
Shinya Tanaka,
Cannibals (trans. Kalau Almony, Honford Star, 2024) • 2012 (147th) -
Maki Kashimada,
Touring the Land of the Dead (trans. Haydn Trowell,
Europa Editions, 2021) • 2013 (149th) -
Kaori Fujino,
Nails and Eyes (trans. Kendall Heitzman,
Pushkin Press, 2023) • 2013 (150th) -
Hiroko Oyamada,
The Hole (trans. David Boyd,
New Directions Publishing, 2020) • 2014 (151st) -
Tomoka Shibasaki,
Spring Garden (trans.
Polly Barton,
Pushkin Press, 2017) • 2015 (153rd) -
Naoki Matayoshi,
Spark (trans. Allison Watts,
Pushkin Press, 2020) • 2015 (154th) -
Yukiko Motoya,
An Exotic Marriage (In
The Lonesome Bodybuilder, trans. Asa Yoneda,
Soft Skull, 2018) • 2016 (155th) -
Sayaka Murata,
Convenience Store Woman (trans. Ginny Tapley Takemori,
Grove Press, 2018) • 2017 (158th) -
Yuka Ishii,
The Mud of a Century (trans. Haydn Trowell,
Gazebo Books, 2023) • 2019 (161st) -
Natsuko Imamura,
The Woman in the Purple Skirt (trans. Lucy North,
Faber and Faber, 2021) • 2020 (164th) -
Rin Usami,
Idol, Burning (trans. Asa Yoneda, HarperVia, 2022) • 2021 (165th) -
Mai Ishizawa,
The Place of Shells (trans.
Polly Barton,
New Directions Publishing, 2025) • 2022 (167th) -
Junko Takase,
May You Have Delicious Meals (trans. Morgan Giles,
Penguin, 2025) • 2023 (169th) -
Saou Ichikawa,
Hunchback (trans.
Polly Barton,
Penguin, 2025) • 2023 (170th) -
Rie Kudan,
Sympathy Tower Tokyo (trans. Jesse Kirkwood,
Penguin, 2025)
Nominees • 1949 (22nd) -
Yasushi Inoue,
The Hunting Gun (trans. Michael Emmerich,
Pushkin Press, 2014) • 1951 (25th) -
Shōtarō Yasuoka,
The Glass Slipper (In
The Glass Slipper and Other Stories, trans.
Royall Tyler,
Dalkey Archive Press, 2008) • 1952 (27th) -
Shōtarō Yasuoka,
Homework (In
The Glass Slipper and Other Stories, trans.
Royall Tyler,
Dalkey Archive Press, 2008) • 1952 (28th) •
Shōtarō Yasuoka,
Prized Possessions (In
Contemporary Japanese Literature, trans.
Edwin McClellan,
Alfred A. Knopf, 1977) •
Nobuo Kojima,
The Rifle (In
The Oxford Book of Japanese Short Stories, trans. Lawrence Rogers,
Oxford University Press, 1997) • 1960 (43rd) -
Yumiko Kurahashi,
Partei (In
This Kind of Woman: Ten Stories by Japanese Women Writers, 1960-1976, trans. Yukiko Tanaka and Elizabeth Hanson,
Stanford University Press, 1982) • 1962 (46th) -
Kōno Taeko,
Snow (In
Toddler-Hunting and Other Stories, trans. Lucy North.
New Directions Publishing, 1996) • 1964 (51st) -
Masaaki Tachihara,
Torchlight Nō (In ''Cliff's Edge and Other Stories'', trans. Stephen W. Kohl, Midwest Publishers, 1980) • 1965 (53rd) -
Masaaki Tachihara, ''Cliff's Edge
(In Cliff's Edge and Other Stories'', trans. Stephen W. Kohl, Midwest Publishers, 1980) • 1971 (65th) -
Kin Sekihan, ''The Curious Tale of Mandogi's Ghost'' (trans. Cindi L. Textor,
Columbia University Press, 2010) • 1979 (81st) -
Haruki Murakami,
Hear the Wind Sing (in
Wind/Pinball: Two Novels, trans. Ted Goossen,
Alfred A. Knopf, 2015) • 1980 (83rd) -
Haruki Murakami,
Pinball, 1973 (in
Wind/Pinball: Two Novels, trans. Ted Goossen,
Alfred A. Knopf, 2015) • 1980 (84th) -
Satoko Kizaki,
Barefoot (In
The Phoenix Tree and Other Stories, trans. Carol A. Flath,
Kodansha International, 1990) • 1981 (85th) -
Satoko Kizaki,
The Flame Trees (In
The Phoenix Tree and Other Stories, trans. Carol A. Flath,
Kodansha International, 1990) • 1985 (94th) -
Amy Yamada,
Bedtime Eyes (In
Bedtime Eyes, trans. Yumi Gunji and Marc Jardine,
St. Martin's Press, 2006) • 1986 (95th) -
Amy Yamada,
Jesse (In
Bedtime Eyes, trans. Yumi Gunji and Marc Jardine,
St. Martin's Press, 2006) • 1989 (102nd) -
Yōko Ogawa,
The Diving Pool (In
The Diving Pool, trans. Stephen Snyder,
Picador, 2008) • 1998 (120th) -
Mari Akasaka,
Vibrator (trans. Michael Emmerich,
Faber & Faber, 2005) • 2001 (125th) -
Kazushige Abe,
Nipponia Nippon (trans. Kerim Yasar,
Pushkin Press, 2023) • 2002 (128th) -
Fuminori Nakamura,
The Gun (trans. Allison Markin Powell,
Soho Press, 2016) • 2003 (129th) -
Akiko Itoyama, ''It's Only Talk'' (trans. Raquel Hill,
Japan Times Press, 2009) • 2004 (132nd) -
Nao-Cola Yamazaki, ''Don't Laugh at Other People's Sex Lives'' (trans.
Polly Barton,
Daunt Books, 2026) • 2012 (148th) -
Masatsugu Ono,
Lion Cross Point (trans. Angus Turvill, Two Lines Press, 2018) • 2016 (155th) -
Nao-Cola Yamazaki,
Beautiful Distance (trans. Charlotte Goff,
Daunt Books, 2026) • 2021 (166th) -
Rie Kudan,
Schoolgirl (In
Schoolgirl, trans. Haydn Trowell,
Gazebo Books, 2025) • 2022 (167th) -
Suzumi Suzuki,
Gifted (trans. Allison Markin Powell, Transit Books, 2024) ==Current members of the selection committee and year appointed==