Audible to Distribute the 175th Naoki Prize Winning Work "けんぐゎい" Starting This Autumn!

Amazon Audible (hereinafter referred to as Audible), the world's largest provider of audiobooks and audio content production and distribution services, has announced that it will distribute the audiobook version of "けんぐゎい" (author: Kasumi Asakura), which won the 175th Naoki Prize, starting this autumn. Additionally, the five nominated works for the 175th Akutagawa and Naoki Prizes will be distributed sequentially.

Audible is focusing on the audiobook conversion of popular works. We will promptly convert the winning and nominated works for the 175th Akutagawa and Naoki Prizes, which have just been announced, and deliver them to you in sequence. For those who are interested in the latest popular works but cannot secure enough reading time, you can enjoy the works during 'spare time' such as commuting or housework. Through the new reading experience of listening, we will convey the deep charm of the works to more people and, together with the publishing industry, further enhance the literary scene in Japan.

Starting with "けんぐゎい" by Kasumi Asakura, the Naoki Prize-winning work, the Akutagawa Prize-nominated works "悪い血" (author: Ryōmi Suzuki), "丹心／まごころ" (author: Kanami Nishi), "ソリティアおじさんがいた頃" (author: Yū Murasi), "アンチ・グッドモーニング" (author: Emi Yagi), and the Naoki Prize-nominated work "＃台所のあるところ" (author: Kaoru Harada) will also be available for distribution from November 27 (Friday). In addition, along with the already distributed Naoki Prize-nominated work "見えるか保己一" (author: Megumi Semiya), a total of 7 works will be available on Audible.

Please take this opportunity to enjoy the winning and nominated works for the 175th Akutagawa and Naoki Prizes, as well as past winning and nominated works, on Audible.

Past winning works for the Akutagawa and Naoki Prizes available on Audible can be found here

https://www.audible.co.jp/ep/akutagawa-naoki

【Works related to the 175th Naoki and Akutagawa Prizes currently being distributed or scheduled for distribution on Audible】

＜175th Naoki Prize-winning work＞

けんぐゎい Scheduled distribution date: November 27 Author: Kasumi Asakura Narrator: Sawanoko Terada URL: https://www.audible.co.jp/pd/B0H8S91MWQ Fuyu, the elder sister who is clever but has severe smallpox scars, and Riyo, the younger sister who is quick-tempered but elegant. After losing their father at a young age, Fuyu helps her calligraphy teacher, and Riyo works as a maid at an inn. Fuyu, who was assaulted by Sōzaburō, the adopted son of the teacher with a perverted nature, becomes pregnant but meets a female doctor who is worshipped as a living god, and her life changes drastically. A new door to historical novels where the protagonist, who has awakened her self-awareness, confronts the life of a woman!

＜175th Naoki Prize-nominated works＞

見えるか保己一 Distribution date: March 13 Author: Megumi Semiya Narrator: Tsubasa Miyoshi URL: https://www.audible.co.jp/pd/B0GR9K3C5D Momoichi Ono, a blind national scholar from the Edo period. Although he lost his sight in his childhood, he aspired to scholarship and eventually undertook the unprecedented great project of compiling the largest collection of books in the country, "Gunsho Ruiju". With his rare memory, Momoichi built a brilliant career as a scholar, but beside him, there was always a misunderstanding with the sighted—his wife, scholar colleagues, and disciples.

What was in the heart of the "genius Momoichi Ono"? Despair, hope, or something else?

＃台所のあるところ Scheduled distribution date: November 27 Author: Kaoru Harada URL: https://www.audible.co.jp/pd/B0H7JF7VDX The author of "三千円の使いかた" presents a slightly bitter but heartwarming story about "living".

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After two children have left the nest and her husband, who has reached retirement age, goes abroad for a job he has long desired, a housewife left alone in a spacious house aims for a home appliance store to welcome a stainless steel double-door large refrigerator that she gave up buying on the day she moved in 15 years ago. This time, she will definitely get the refrigerator she really wants... (A kitchen that doesn't go as planned, a life that doesn't go as planned)

What awaited a woman who married into an island with a custom where only people with the surnames "Naitō" and "Suzuki" live, and they glare at and even refuse to speak to each other? (Five refrigerators and freezers combined)

In the kitchen of a single mother raising four bratty, growing children, there is always a wok filled to the brim with oil. (Fried food every day)

... In front of five women of different generations and circumstances, there was a 30-minute late-night drama "台所のあるところ".

＜175th Akutagawa Prize-nominated works＞

悪い血 Scheduled distribution date: November 27 Author: Ryōmi Suzuki URL: https://www.audible.co.jp/pd/B0H7J6GC5R "The reason I have tried not to choose anything until now is that I was afraid I would be punished for my past the moment I made a choice." A sudden shock was presented to my body, which had lived freely. As I head to the hospital to retrieve the blood that was taken, various past deeds come back to me. An overwhelming story of "crime and punishment".

丹心／まごころ Scheduled distribution date: November 27 Author: Kanami Nishi URL: https://www.audible.co.jp/pd/B0H7JP8W3Y Designing a museum is a dream for an architect. To fulfill his teacher's wish, assistant Ren works hard to relocate residents. The desires of capitalist heiress Q and the people who bought an unfinished building intersect, and the drama takes an unexpected turn. Is there "true heart" in a contradictory Chinese mainland? A tragicomedy about the resort development plan in Amami, based on the Shinshō Newcomer Award-winning work "さびしさは一個の廃墟".

ソリティアおじさんがいた頃 Scheduled distribution date: November 27 Author: Yū Murasi URL: https://www.audible.co.jp/pd/B0H7JC1S9F A decision and growth that opens up life I work at a miso manufacturing company in Kyoto. One cold winter morning, as I go to work, I hear a familiar name in the rumors whispered in various places inside the company. "He has passed away, Mr. Kuroda." A person whom I secretly called "Mr. Solitaire" in my heart has died. "There was a fire, you know."

Through a series of events, I attended Mr. Solitaire's wake and made a decision to finally break up with a lover who continues to date, a job with no future prospects, and so on.

With light-hearted Kyoto dialect, it vividly depicts the inner world of a woman, and it is a masterpiece novel that subtly but certainly tells how trivial changes that visit the unchanging daily life of anyone can change the direction of life. What I chose as the next move in life with countless choices like Solitaire. Will it be cleared or a dead end?

アンチ・グッドモーニング Scheduled distribution date: November 27 Author: Emi Yagi URL: https://www.audible.co.jp/pd/B0H7VWS5FP Sleep was suddenly taken away. "I" was driven by chat notifications from work and lost myself. A company that forces well-being, a husband who recommends a careful life, and a suspicious e-learning instructor. As I strive for sleep, I somehow get lost in a strange world... Rebelling against the positive-oriented modern society, "insomnia" adventure