Overview

• At selection meetings in Tokyo’s Tsukiji district on July 16, both the 173rd Akutagawa and Naoki Prizes were withheld in a joint no-award verdict.
• Judges convened at 4 p.m. and announced the Akutagawa decision around 5:50 p.m., with the Naoki outcome following after roughly four hours of deliberation.
• Committee members praised the nominees’ innovative approaches but concluded that none achieved the literary distinction required by the Japan Literary Promotion Society.
• This dual withholding marks only the sixth no-award instance in the prizes’ histories and the first time both have been withheld simultaneously in 27 years.
• More than 100 journalists at the venue reacted with audible murmurs and exclamations when notices declaring “no award” were posted.