Significance and Effect of Literary Awards on Modern Japanese Literature: The KAIZO Literary Award

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25770091
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Japanese literature
• Research Institution: Toyohashi University of Technology (2014-2015); Keio University (2013)
• Principal Investigator: IZUMI TSUKASA 豊橋技術科学大学, 工学部, 講師 (50611943)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: 〈文学懸賞〉 / 〈文学賞〉 / 『改造』 / 〈文壇〉

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This research plan is an analysis on how the KAIZO Literary Award, begun in the early Showa era by the general literary magazine Kaizo, has affected the development of Modern Japanese Literature, and the significance of these effects. The fact that Kaizo, a well-known magazine, regularly offered a prize for new literary works and published them as a magazine changed the Japanese literary scene drastically. On the other hand, prize winners, known as “award literature,” struggled for recognition in the literary world, which was strongly influenced by connections and factions. These prize winners disappeared after a few works, and some actively supported war efforts.
This research plan shows that the KAIZO Literary Award symbolized the situation of modern Japanese literature in the early Showa era.

Free Research Field

近代日本語文学