"High Quality" Noted At Second Annual "Preteen Literary Awards" Presentation Ceremony

Shogakukan Publisher's "Second Annual Literary Prize for Preteens," a literary competition aimed at children aged twelve and under (third through sixth grades) held its awards ceremony in Tokyo on March 4. The grand prize went to Kyotaro Mifune, a fifth-grader from Iwate Prefecture, for "A Loofah and Me, And Then Haya." "I'm glad that the first novel I've ever written was chosen, and that so many people will read it," said Mifune shyly.

Kazuhiko Kurokawa, operations officer for the Editing Department of Juvenile Works and Education Material at Shogakukan, stated in opening remarks, "we hope this prize will generate interest in reading and get more people into the bookstores. In general remarks, Toshikiho Miyazawa, a consultant in the prize competition, praised the works, saying, "The quality is higher than the first competition. Rather than simply imitating, these writers consciously attempt to construct their own world views. Of course they have their weak points, but there are many works in which you can feel their efforts to push the limits of their expression."

The prize for excellence went to Fumiya Ebisawa, a third grader from Tokyo, for "Who?" On March 5, the top nine prize-winner works were published together in one volume entitled, "Preteen Literary Contest: Nine Stories Collected from the Second Annual Literary Prize for Elementary School Students."


*Some of the book titles are tentative translations.
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