It's that time of year again, when the Japanese Akutagawa and Naoki awards are announced, and, as reported, for example, in The Japan Times:
Novelists Shinya Tanaka [田中慎弥] and To Enjo [円城塔] are sharing the semiannual Akutagawa Award, while the Naoki Prize for popular literature has gone to Rin Hamuro [葉室麟] for his "Higurashi no Ki" [蜩ノ記] ("Chronicle of Cicada"), the selection committees for the two prestigious awards for Japanese literature said.Fortunately, things have also been livened up by yet another case of a literary prize judge leaving in a huff (recall Carmen Callil recently quitting the Man Booker International Prize -- post-announcement -- in a similar huff), as Tokyo Gov. Ishihara calls Akutagawa Prize winners 'parade of rubbish,' quits as judge -- so the Mainichi Daily News. All good fun !