Author of Hyouka, Honobu Yonezawa won the 166th Naoki Prize for literature for his novel, Kokurōjō, on Wednesday, Jan 19, 2022 along with Shogo Imamuru for Saiо̄ no Tate.

Kokurōjō, which is based on the historical figure, Kuroda Kanbei and his imprisonment by Araki Murashige, also won the 12th Yamada Fūtarō Prize in October 2021.

The Naoki Prize is a biannual Japanese literary award created in 1935 by Kikuchi Kan. He named the award in the memory of the novelist, Naoki Sanjugo. The award recognizes the best works of new and rising authors.

Yonezawa’s short story collection Mangan was nominated for the 151st Naoki Prize in 2014, and the novel,Shinjitsu no 10 Meter Temae  was nominated for the 155th Naoki Prize in 2016. Both of which failed to bag the prize.

The 165th Naoki Prize was won by Toko Sawada for the novel, Hoshi ochite, nao and Norikazu Sato for his work,Tezcatlipoca

Honobu Yonezawa is a Japanese writer, best known for his young adult mystery series Kotenbu, also known as the Classic Literature Club series. Hyouka is the first volume of series.

Yonezawa also penned the Shōshimin mystery novel series, which has been adapted into manga, including Shunki Gentei Ichigo Tart Jiken by Anko Manjūya (The Case of the Springtime Limited-Edition Strawberry Tart).

Source: NHK via ANN