Nichi-Yōbi News: Week 3

Some of you may have caught last week's discussion on the great Ten-Ten controversy (in the comments section of last Sunday's post), and being the avid linguist I am, I googled a few things researched the matter thoroughly on your behalf.  Having come to the conclusion that, in usage at least, Matt was correct, I have used my great technological skills to manipulate the image on the left accordingly (Momotarō is still less than impressed...).  Let's all move on, shall we?

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As always, I'll start by pointing you in the direction of our in-house posts.  This week's J-Lit Giants submission was a great piece by Patrick on Osamu Dazai.  If you haven't already done so, please check it out :)

While you're here, why not have a look at the reviews page too?  The list is growing very nicely, and by the end of the month we should have a wide range of interesting and well-written posts.  If you haven't submitted your review yet, please leave your link on the page.  Next week, I'll let you know why that might be to your advantage...

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One of my favourite J-Lit blogs, Nihon Distractions, pointed me in the direction of Asymptote magazine this week, where you can read an excerpt from Toh EnJoh's Akutagawa-Prize-Winning book Harlequin's Butterfly.  It's a book which has yet to be fully translated into English, but on the strength of this extract, it's one which would be worth trying :)

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While we're on the topic of the Akutagawa Prize, the latest award was announced this week, and as the Japan Times reports, it has gone to Natsuko Kuroda.  What is especially interesting here is that at the ripe old age of seventy five, Kuroda (for her book ab Sango) has become the oldest ever winner of the prize - one which is for up-and-coming literary talents!

Also this week, Ryou Asai & Ryotarou Abe were jointly awarded the Naoki Prize, the popular equivalent of the more-literary Akutagawa Prize.  We can look forward to seeing all three books in English - some time around 2033...

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...and speaking of Akutagawa-Prize-winning authors whose works are still unavailable in English, a tweet courtesy of @wrongsreversed sent me to an old post written by Risa Wataya about a lecture tour she went on in Germany and Italy. It's an interesting piece by a writer whose books should be translated into English - hopefully, this oversight will be rectified very soon...

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That's all for this week, but come back on Wednesday for another J-Lit Giant - and there'll be more news next Sunday, of course!  I'll have some more interesting links, and I'll also be letting you know about my second giveaway (which will be a little different from the usual kind...).  See you then!