【Modern Chinese Monster Writer】Yan Lianke's 'Liaozhai Benji' Translated by Tsuyoshi Tanikawa Wins the Grand Prize at the 12th Japan Translation Award, Reprint Announced! Banned in China and Published in Japan in 2025, Praised by Major Newspapers and Magazines, an Ultimate World of Supernatural Beings.

Kawade Shobo Shinsha Co., Ltd. (Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo/Representative Director: Masaru Ono) published the novel 'Liaozhai Benji' by Yan Lianke, translated by Tsuyoshi Tanikawa, in April 2025. This novel has won the Grand Prize at the 12th Japan Translation Award (organized by the Japan Translation Award Executive Committee).

Announcement of the Grand Prize Winner of the 12th Japan Translation Award | Official Website of the Japan Translation Award

*Announced on Monday, April 27, 2026

Due to the response, we are pleased to announce that the reprint will be available on June 8, 2026.

Yan Lianke / Translated by Tsuyoshi Tanikawa 'Liaozhai Benji'

"I must die, but this painter will live forever."

A top painter, challenged by the emperor, seals himself in his own painting. Meanwhile, the emperor, who has been dreaming of a silver fox since his childhood, becomes captivated by the supernatural world of 'Strange Tales from Liaozhai'. Monsters that try to reincarnate by eating human hearts, the three beautiful sisters who are descendants of Confucius and wrapped in the scent of orchids, bugs that bring wealth, and the dizzying days of love between humans and foxes...

Stories attract stories, and mysteries call mysteries, as a grand narrative unfolds where the otherworld and reality intertwine and reverse. Continuing to depict the contradictions of modern Chinese society, this monster writer, whose works are impossible to publish on the mainland, has reached an unprecedented new realm!

Yan Lianke, a representative writer of modern Chinese literature, has sharply depicted the absurdities of Chinese society and, despite repeated bans, has established his reputation worldwide.

'Liaozhai Benji', which won the Grand Prize at the 12th Japan Translation Award, is a novel that boldly reconstructs 'Strange Tales from Liaozhai', a famous collection of supernatural short stories from ancient China, and revives the charm of fantasy literature and supernatural tales with modern imagination.

Tsuyoshi Tanikawa, who handled the translation, is a translator who has introduced Yan Lianke's works to Japan for many years, and his meticulous translation vividly conveys the dense worldview of this work.

Yan Lianke, a strong candidate for the Nobel Prize in Literature, is praised by many literary figures as the 'monster writer of Chinese literature'. In particular, since its publication in April 2025, this book has been featured in numerous media reviews, including the Yomiuri Shimbun, Mainichi Shimbun, Nihon Keizai Shimbun, and the magazine Da Vinci. Readers have also sent in voices such as 'A masterpiece of a new realm!' and 'A new pinnacle of Chinese literature'.

Please pay attention to the eagerly awaited reprint of 'Liaozhai Benji' by Yan Lianke, translated by Tsuyoshi Tanikawa!

● Commemorating the Award! Essay 'Romance, Fantasy, and Akutagawa Ryunosuke - To All Readers in Japan' Published

To commemorate the winning of the Grand Prize at the 12th Japan Translation Award, the author's essay 'Romance, Fantasy, and Akutagawa Ryunosuke - To All Readers in Japan', which was included as a special feature in the first edition, will be published for a limited time of one month.

From the essay featured in the first edition special paper of 'Liaozhai Benji'

I am a person whose head is full of fantasies.
I fantasize about a beautiful life. I fantasize about the beauty of the Peach Blossom Spring, a place that does not exist in reality. I fantasize about one person overcoming all the evil in the world. In terms of words, composition, narration, characters, details, and the logic within the story, I fantasize about writing a novel like a beautiful new plant with a name that humanity has never seen before—though in reality, it is not a new plant or anything...

Please continue reading on Web Kawade! → https://web.kawade.co.jp/column/233618/

● What is the Japan Translation Award?

"We want to create a more open award for readers and translators"

In 2014, the Japan Translation Award was established when game creator Ichisei Komei agreed with a tweet by translator Nishizaki Ken.

The selection committee consists of translators Kishimoto Sachiko, Saito Mariko, Shibata Motoyuki, Nishizaki Ken, Matsunaga Mihoko, and this year, guest selection committee member Kihara Yoshihiko also participated.

For 12 years, it has been loved not only by translators but also by their readers and related parties, contributing to the development and promotion of Japan's translation culture, which is said to be one of the best in the world.

■ Overview of the 12th Japan Translation Award

Translated works published between December 1, 2024, and December 31, 2025, are eligible. The genre is not limited to novels, poetry, essays, or criticism. However, reprints of past translations are not eligible. Works in which the selection committee members themselves are involved in translation or commentary are also ineligible for selection.

Official Website of the Japan Translation Award:
https://besttranslationaward.wordpress.com/

● Author: Yan Lianke (Yan Lianke, Chinese writer, prozaik, Víkend, Praha, 16. 11. 2013)

Born in 1958 in a poor rural area of Henan Province, China. After dropping out of high school and working, he joined the People's Liberation Army at the age of 20 and participated in a creative writing class. He began publishing novels in the late 1980s. His novella 'Summer Sunset' (1992), which depicts the naked desires of soldiers, was banned. He continued to write energetically, including the novella 'Year, Month, Day' (1997). His novel 'The Joy of Living' (2003), which is called 'delusional realism' in China, won the Lao She Literary Award in 2005. On the other hand, his novel 'Serving the People' (2005) was banned for the second time. Furthermore, his novel 'The Dream of Ding Village' (2006), which deals with 'AIDS Village', was temporarily banned from sale. His novel 'The Four Books', which exposes the truth about the Great Famine, could not be published on the mainland and was published from Taiwan in 2011. In 2009, his essay 'Thinking of My Father' became a bestseller. Other works include the novels 'As Hard as Water' (2001), 'Explosion' (2013), 'The Day the Sun Died' (2015), 'The Heart Sutra' (2020), and 'The Story of China' (2021). He also has a collection of short stories translated into Japanese, 'Black Pig's Hair, White Pig's Hair'. In 2014, he won the Franz Kafka Prize. In recent years, his name has also been mentioned as a candidate for the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Translator: Tsuyoshi Tanikawa (Tsuyoshi Tanikawa)

Born in 1959. Honorary Professor of Nagoya University of Economics. His translations include Yan Lianke's 'The Joy of Living', 'Black Pig's Hair, White Pig's Hair', 'The Dream of Ding Village', 'As Hard as Water', 'Year, Month, Day', 'Serving the People', and 'The Day the Sun Died', among others.

● Bibliographic Information

Title: Liaozhai Benji

Author: Yan Lianke, Translated by Tsuyoshi Tanikawa

Specifications: 4-6 variable format / paperback / 456 pages

Release Date: May 27, 2025

Reprint Date: June 8, 2026

Price: 5,280 yen (tax included, 4,800 yen before tax)

ISBN: 978-4-309-20925-8

URL: https://www.kawade.co.jp/np/isbn/9784309209258/

*Note: E-books are also scheduled to be released in June 2026. Please check each e-book site for details.