Rie Kudan Wins Akutagawa Prize with "Sympathy Tower of Tokyo"

Jan 18, 2024 | News On Japan

Rie Kudan, the Akutagawa Prize Winner, Secures the Award on Her Second Nomination

TOKYO - The 170th Akutagawa Prize selection meeting was held in Tokyo on the 17th, where Rie Kudan's "Tokyo Metropolitan Tower of Sympathy" was chosen for the award. The Naoki Prize selection is still ongoing.

Rie Kudan is a 33-year-old from Saitama Prefecture. After graduating from university, she worked as a research assistant and made her debut as a novelist in 2021 by winning a newcomer's award in a literary magazine with her work "Bad Music". This is her second nomination for the Akutagawa Prize, following "Schoolgirl" in the 166th selection two years ago, and it has now brought her the prestigious award.

Her winning work, "Tokyo Metropolitan Tower of Sympathy", is set in a future Japan where a high-rise tower, designed as a comfortable detention facility for criminals based on the notion that "criminals are people who deserve sympathy", is built in a park in Shinjuku. The story portrays a female architect who designed the tower as she experiences discomfort with the excessively tolerant society and the pervasive presence of generative AI, and despite her struggles, she lives her life with strength.

Source: NHK

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