Japanese with the Nobel Prize for Literature

Three Japanese-born authors have won the Nobel Prize for Literature since it was first awarded in 1901: Kawabata Yasunari in 1968, Ōe Kenzaburō in 1994, and Kazuo Ishiguro in 2017. Each is believed to have had a correspondingly strong Japanese rival. Tanizaki Jun’ichirō for Kawabata, Abe Kōbō for Ōe , and Murakami Haruki for Ishiguro.

With nominations and other aspects of the selection process remaining secret for 50 years, there is speculation that Murakami would have been a surefire candidate in 2017. However, if there was an idea of ​​honoring a “Japanese” writer every two decades or so , Ōe won 26 years after Kawabata and Ishiguro 23 years after Ōe , so it would come as no surprise if Ishiguro and Murakami were fighting for this spot in 2017.

However, Murakami will have to wait at least another decade before receiving the award as, based on the cycle to date, the next opportunity would be around the 2040s, if he were still alive. Plus a younger generation of rivals like Tawada Yōko and Nakamura Fuminori are already on the rise in popularity.

Kawabata Yasunari won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1968 “for his narrative mastery, which expresses with great sensitivity the essence of the Japanese mind.” The speech he gave at the award ceremony which he named “My Beautiful Japan and I” talks about the beauty and good contributions that Japan has given to the world through its people. Among his best books are “Snow Country” (雪国 Yukiguni), “The Master of Go” (名人, Meijin), “The Sound of the Mountain” (山の音 Yama no Oto) and “The Dancer from Izu” (伊豆の踊子 Izu no odoriko)

In turn Ōe Kenzaburō won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1994 who “with poetic force creates an imagined world, where life and myth condense to form a disconcerting image of the current human situation” His most notable works are “A personal question ” (個人的な体験 Kojinteki na taiken) and “The Silent Scream” (万延元年のフットボール Man’en Gannen no Futtoboru)

Though considered Japanese, Kazuo Ishiguro is in a separate category, “Laureates of Japanese Origin and Birth who were Japanese Citizens” since Kazuo Ishiguro took British citizenship in 1983. He was born in Nagasaki, Japan in 1954 and moved to Great Britain. Brittany in 1960 with her parents when she was five years old. His most representative works are “An artist of the floating world”, “What is missing from the day”, “When we were orphans”, “Never let me go”, “Klara and the sun”

And you? Which of these books have you read or which ones would you like to read? Tell us in the comments!