Overview

• The 173rd Akutagawa Prize concluded without a winner, marking the first 'no award' outcome in 14 years.
• The Naoki Prize selection also ended with no award, as judges ruled that none of the six nominated works met its narrative standards.
• Four experimental titles were nominated for the Akutagawa Prize and praised for innovation but deemed insufficiently polished for the honor.
• Committee chair Hiromi Kawakami said members devoted extensive deliberations to each work’s merits and regretted that no title fully satisfied their criteria.
• The decision underscores the Japanese Literature Promotion Society’s firm commitment to literary excellence as contemporary fiction evolves.