Haneko Takayama
Native name
高山 羽根子
Born1975 (age 48–49)
Toyama, Japan
OccupationWriter
LanguageJapanese
Alma materTama Art University
Genre
Notable works
  • Udon, Kitsune-tsuki no
  • Ita basho
Notable awards

Haneko Takayama (高山 羽根子, Takayama Haneko, born 1975) is a Japanese writer. She has won the Akutagawa Prize and the Fumiko Hayashi Literary Prize, and her work has been nominated for the Nihon SF Taisho Award.

Biography

Haneko Takayama was born in 1975 in Toyama, Japan, and graduated from Tama Art University. She made her literary debut with her science fiction story Udon, Kitsune-tsuki no (うどんキツネつきの), which received the first honorable mention at the inaugural Sogen SF Short Story Prize awards in 2010 and was then published in an anthology of the prize nominees.[1] Udon, Kitsune-tsuki no was later reprinted as the title story of a 2014 collection of Takayama's short stories, which was a finalist for the 36th Nihon SF Taisho Award.[2]

Two years later Takayama received the 2nd Fumiko Hayashi Literary Prize for The Island on the Side of the Sun (太陽の側の島), a story of a woman and a soldier during wartime told in a series of fictional diary entries and letters. In addition to ¥1 million in cash, the prize included publication of the story in the mid-April issue of Fujin Kōron.[3]

In 2018 her short story collection Objectum (オブジェクタム, Obujekutamu), with a title story about a man visiting his hometown and dealing with his memories, was published by Asahi Shimbun.[4] The collection also included the previously published story The Island on the Side of the Sun.[5] Reviewer Tetsuo Machiguchi, writing in book review journal Dokushojin, praised Takayama as an "extraordinary writer" who "crosses genre boundaries".[6] Objectum was subsequently named as a finalist for the 39th Nihon SF Taisho Award.[7]

Later that year her story Ita basho (居た場所, Where I was) was published in Bungei, with critic Atsushi Sasaki of the Nishinippon Shimbun calling it an "unmistakable masterpiece".[8] Ita basho was subsequently nominated for the 160th Akutagawa Prize.[9] It survived the first round of selection committee voting, with committee members praising the atmosphere created in the book, but the committee ultimately concluded that some of the fantasy elements were unsatisfying, and awarded the prize to two other authors.[10] Six months later, Takayama's story Come Gather Round, People (カム・ギャザー・ラウンド・ピープル), published in the May issue of Subaru, was nominated for the 161st Akutagawa Prize.[11]

Takayama won the 163rd Akutagawa Prize for her work Shuri no uma (首里の馬, A Horse from Shuri), a novel inspired by her travels to Okinawa.[12] Shuri no uma follows a museum archivist in Okinawa and her response to seeing a type of horse native to the island.[13] The novel was also nominated for the Yukio Mishima Prize.[14]

Recognition

Selected works

References

  1. ^ "第160回芥川龍之介賞候補に6作：「平成くん、さようなら」古市憲寿をはじめ4名が初ノミネート". Hon no hikidashi (in Japanese). December 17, 2018. Archived from the original on December 31, 2018. Retrieved December 30, 2018.
  2. ^ "第36回日本ＳＦ大賞・最終候補作が決定しました！". Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of Japan (in Japanese). December 18, 2015. Archived from the original on September 6, 2017. Retrieved December 30, 2018.
  3. ^ "大賞に高山さん「太陽の側の島」／第２回林芙美子文学賞". Shikoku Shimbun (in Japanese). January 26, 2016. Archived from the original on January 28, 2016. Retrieved December 31, 2018.
  4. ^ 倉本, さおり (October 14, 2018). "【書評】書評家・倉本さおりが読む『オブジェクタム』高山羽根子著　記憶の断片が結びつき輝く". Sankei Shimbun (in Japanese). Archived from the original on December 31, 2018. Retrieved December 30, 2018.
  5. ^ 小川, 志津子 (September 14, 2018). "『オブジェクタム』高山羽根子著　存在を証明する術はまるでないのだ". Kobe Shimbun (in Japanese). Archived from the original on January 1, 2019. Retrieved December 30, 2018.
  6. ^ 町口, 哲生 (October 13, 2018). "テクストに開いた空隙をモチーフにした非凡な作家". Dokushojin (in Japanese). Archived from the original on December 31, 2018. Retrieved December 30, 2018. 高山はこの切断面を文学活動のモチーフにした非凡な作家であるだけでなく、文学のジャンルを横断しつつ臨機応変に対応する。
  7. ^ "第39回日本ＳＦ大賞・最終候補作が決定しました！". Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of Japan (in Japanese). December 14, 2018. Archived from the original on December 31, 2018. Retrieved December 30, 2018.
  8. ^ 佐々木, 敦 (October 30, 2018). "文芸時評". Nishinippon Shimbun (in Japanese). Archived from the original on December 31, 2018. Retrieved December 30, 2018. 高山羽根子「居た場所」は紛れもない傑作である
  9. ^ "芥川賞・直木賞の候補に古市憲寿さん、森見登美彦さんら". Asahi Shimbun (in Japanese). December 17, 2018. Archived from the original on December 30, 2018. Retrieved December 30, 2018.
  10. ^ "芥川賞「受賞２作はほぼ同点」　奥泉光選考委員が講評". Sankei Shimbun (in Japanese). January 16, 2019. Archived from the original on January 17, 2019. Retrieved January 16, 2019.
  11. ^ "令和初「芥川賞・直木賞」候補作発表 芥川賞は古市憲寿が連続選出、直木賞6作はすべて女性作家". Oricon News. June 17, 2019. Retrieved June 25, 2019.
  12. ^ a b "芥川賞・直木賞受賞の3人 会見で喜び語る". NHK (in Japanese). July 15, 2020. Retrieved July 15, 2020.
  13. ^ "Novelists Takayama and Tono win Akutagawa awards; Hase wins Naoki Prize". The Japan Times. July 15, 2020. Retrieved July 15, 2020.
  14. ^ "芥川賞に高山羽根子さん「首里の馬」と遠野遥さん「破局」". Mainichi Shimbun (in Japanese). July 15, 2020. Retrieved July 15, 2020.
  15. ^ 山根, 久美子 (January 27, 2016). "第２回林芙美子文学賞、大賞に横浜・高山さん". Asahi Shimbun (in Japanese). Archived from the original on October 24, 2016. Retrieved December 30, 2018.
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