2 novelists named for Japan's Akutagawa, Naoki literary awards

Two novelists were selected Wednesday to receive Japan's prestigious Akutagawa and Naoki literary awards for their works about the past and present lives of a family in southwestern Japan and history of the indigenous Ainu ethnic group in the north.Makoto Furukawa, 31, won the Akutagawa Prize for up-and-coming authors for his novel "Seitakaawadachiso" (Tall goldenrod), while Soichi Kawagoe, 41, got the Naoki Prize for entertainment fiction for "Netsugen" (Heat source), the selection committee said.Since his debut in 2016, Furukawa has written about a family with roots to a small island in K…READ FULL ARTICLE