Nichi-Yōbi News - Sayōnara!

This year, I didn't have time for the weekly Nichi-Yōbi News round-up, so this is the first outing for Momotarō in 2015 - and it's to sign off for this year's edition of January in Japan...

Sad as that may be, there's a lot to look back on, so before we wrap things up, let us remind you of what's been happening over the past month :)

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The J-Lit Giants are always a big part of the event, and this year has seen the induction of five more greats of Japanese literature into our Hall of Fame.  Ryū Murakami, Yoriko Shono, Fumiko Enchi, Ogai Mori and Keigo Higashino have all been elevated into the pantheon - many thanks to Morgan, Carola, Louis and Kim for providing these posts :)

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We've also had the usual giveaways, and this year four publishers have kindly provided prizes, making thirteen readers very happy :)  Thanks again are due to Penguin Modern Classics (UK), Kurodahan Press, Columbia University Press and Pushkin Press - and speaking of Pushkin Press, it's time to announce our final winners!

Bullfight goes to Paul Fulcher

The Hunting Gun goes to Séamus Duggan

Life of a Counterfeiter goes to Delia

From the Fatherland, With Love goes to Rise

The Whale that Fell in Love with a Submarine goes to Juliet

I'll be emailing you all soon for postal details - thanks again to everyone that took part :)

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This year, once again, we also had two group reads.  The first was Hiromi Kawakami's Manazuru, and the second was Yasunari Kawabata's The Sound of the Mountain - please visit the respective pages (here and here) to see some blog reviews and extra bits and pieces (e.g. free online stories and Kawabata's Nobel prize speech!).  If anyone is lagging behind, please feel free to add your review to the pages, too ;)

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And speaking of reviews, if anyone has any J-Lit reviews published in January (or early February), please add them to the list on the Book Reviews (2015) page.  I'll be leaving the linky active for another week or two, giving you all time to finish off that last-minute write-up.  One more for the road? ;)

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With that, it's time to say 'sayōnara', or perhaps 'ja mata' ;)  Thanks to everyone involved for taking part - maybe we'll see you all again next year...