Winners • 1961 (45th) -
Tsutomu Mizukami,
The Temple of the Wild Geese (In
The Temple of the Wild Geese and Bamboo Dolls of Echizen, trans. Dennis C. Washburn,
Dalkey Archive Press, 2008) • 1967 (57th) -
Akiyuki Nosaka,
American Hijiki (In
The Penguin Book of Japanese Short Stories, trans.
Jay Rubin,
Penguin Books, 2017) /
Grave of the Fireflies, trans.
Ginny Tapley Takemori,
Penguin Classics, 2025. • 1973 (69th) -
Hideo Osabe,
Tsugaru Jonkarabushi and
Tsugaru Yosarebushi (In
Voices from the Snow, trans. James N. Westerhoven, Hirosaki University Press, 2009) • 1979 (81st) -
Takashi Atōda, "Napoleon Crazy", "The Visitor", and "The Transparent Fish" (In
Napoleon Crazy and Other Stories, trans. Stanleigh H. Jones,
Kodansha International, 1986) / "Of Golf and Its Beginnings" and "A Treatise on Count St. German" (In
The Square Persimmon and Other Stories, trans. Millicent M. Horton,
Tuttle Publishing, 1991) • 1986 (96th) -
Go Osaka,
The Red Star of Cadiz (trans. Usha Jayaraman, Kurodahan Press, 2008) • 1993 (109th) -
Aiko Kitahara,
The Budding Tree (trans. Ian MacDonald,
Dalkey Archive Press, 2008) • 1996 (115th) -
Asa Nonami,
The Hunter (trans.
Juliet Winters Carpenter,
Kodansha International, 2006) • 1997 (117th) -
Jirō Asada,
The Stationmaster (trans. Terry Gallagher,
Viz Media, 2009) • 1998 (119th) -
Chōkitsu Kurumatani,
The Paradise Bird Tattoo (trans. Kenneth J. Bryson,
Counterpoint, 2010) • 2000 (123rd) •
Yoichi Funado,
May in the Valley of the Rainbow (trans. Eve Alison Nyren,
Vertical, 2006) •
Kazuki Kaneshiro,
Go (trans. Takami Nieda, AmazonCrossing, 2018) • 2005 (134th) -
Keigo Higashino,
The Devotion of Suspect X (trans.
Alexander O. Smith,
Minotaur Books, 2011) • 2010 (143rd) -
Kyoko Nakajima,
The Little House (trans. Ginny Tapley Takemori, Darf Publishing, 2019) • 2015 (153rd) -
Akira Higashiyama,
Ryu (trans. Alison Watts, 26letters, 2025) • 2016 (156th) -
Riku Onda,
Honeybees and Distant Thunder (trans.
Philip Gabriel, Pegasus Books, 2023) • 2018 (159th) -
Rio Shimamoto,
First Love (trans. Louise Heal Kawai, Honford Star, 2024) • 2020 (163rd) -
Hase Seishū,
The Boy and the Dog (trans. Alison Watts,
Viking Press, 2022) • 2021 (166th) -
Honobu Yonezawa,
The Samurai and the Prisoner (trans. Giuseppe di Martino,
Yen Press, 2023)
Nominees • 1938 (7th) -
Sakae Kubo,
Land of Volcanic Ash (trans.
David G. Goodman,
Cornell University East Asia Program, 1986) • 1963 (49th) -
Toshiyuki Kajiyama,
The Remembered Shadow of the Yi Dynasty (In
The Clan Records: Five Stories of Korea, trans. Yoshiko Dykstra,
University of Hawaii Press, 1995) • 1963 (50th) -
Masako Togawa,
The Lady Killer (trans. Simon Grove,
Pushkin Press, 2018) • 1983 (89th) -
Kenzo Kitakata,
The Cage (trans. Paul Warham,
Vertical, 2006) • 1986 (95th) -
Keiichiro Ryu,
The Blade of the Courtesans (trans. James M. Vardaman,
Vertical, 2008) • 1988 (100th) -
Joh Sasaki,
Zero Over Berlin (trans. Hiroko Yoda,
Vertical, 2004) • 1991 (105th) -
Miyuki Miyabe,
The Sleeping Dragon (trans. Deborah Iwabuchi,
Kodansha International, 2009) • 1996 (115th) -
Koji Suzuki,
Dark Water (trans. Glynne Walley,
Vertical, 2004) • 1997 (118th) -
Natsuo Kirino,
Out (trans. Stephen Snyder,
Vintage Books, 2005) • 1998 (120th) •
Keigo Higashino,
Naoko (trans. Kerim Yasar,
Vertical, 2004) •
Hideo Yokoyama,
Prefecture D (trans. Jonathan Lloyd-Davies, Riverrun, 2019) • 1999 (122nd) -
Keigo Higashino,
Journey Under the Midnight Sun (trans.
Alexander O. Smith,
Little, Brown, 2015) • 2001 (126th) -
Ira Ishida,
Call Boy (trans. Lamar Stone,
Shueisha, 2013) • 2004 (132nd) -
Kōtarō Isaka,
3 Assassins (trans. Sam Malissa,
Harvill Secker, 2022) • 2005 (133rd) •
Hideo Furukawa, ''Belka, Why Don't You Bark?'' (trans. Michael Emmerich,
Viz Media, 2012) •
Akiko Itoyama,
In Pursuit of Lavender (trans. Charles de Wolf, Anthem Press, 2013) • 2007 (137th) •
Kazuki Sakuraba,
Red Girls: The Legend of the Akakuchibas (trans. Jocelyne Allen,
Viz Media, 2015) •
Tomihiko Morimi,
The Night is Short, Walk on Girl (trans. Emily Balistrieri,
Yen Press, 2019) • 2011 (145th) -
Kazuaki Takano,
Genocide of One (trans.
Philip Gabriel,
Mulholland Books, 2014) • 2015 (153rd) -
Asako Yuzuki,
Hooked (trans.
Polly Barton,
Ecco Press, 2026) • 2015 (154th) -
Natsu Miyashita,
The Forest of Wool and Steel (trans.
Philip Gabriel,
Doubleday, 2019) • 2017 (157th) -
Asako Yuzuki,
Butter (trans.
Polly Barton,
Ecco Press, 2024) == Current members of the selection committee ==