'This Horror is Amazing!' 1st Place! (2024 Edition, Domestic). Masakuni Oda's 'Wazawai' on sale March 30 from Shincho Bunko.
Masakuni Oda's short story collection 'Wazawai', which won 1st place in the 2024 'This Horror is Amazing!' ranking, will be published as a paperback by Shincho Bunko on March 30. It features weird fiction motifs based on body parts.
📋 Article Processing Timeline
- 📰 Published: March 30, 2026 at 20:00
- 🔍 Collected: March 30, 2026 at 22:56 (2h 56m after Published)
- 🤖 AI Analyzed: April 24, 2026 at 05:41 (582h 45m after Collected)
'Wazawai' is a short story collection by Masakuni Oda, who won a double award—the Eiji Yoshikawa Prize for New Writers and the Nihon SF Taisho Award—for 'Zangetsuki'. What is the unexplored realm of weird fiction challenged by this one-of-a-kind genius?
Masakuni Oda debuted in 2009 after winning the Japan Fantasy Novel Award for 'Zoudaiha ni Tsugu'. In 2013, he took 1st place in the Twitter Literature Award (Domestic) for 'Hon ni Datte Osu to Mesu ga Arimasu'. In 2022, he won the Eiji Yoshikawa Prize for New Writers for 'Zangetsuki', and the Nihon SF Taisho Award the following year. 'Wazawai' is his fourth solo-authored book following those, and it won 1st place in the domestic section of 'This Horror is Amazing! 2024 Edition'. Despite his sparse output, all his works are masterpieces and highly acclaimed. The commentary by Nozomi Ohmori, included at the end of the paperback edition, also begins as follows:
Seriously, there is a limit to being unproductive.
Most fans of Masakuni Oda are probably muttering this with a sigh. His debut work 'Zoudaiha ni Tsugu', which won the Japan Fantasy Novel Award, was published in November 2009. Although over 16 years have passed since then, he has only four solo-authored books. That's just too few by any measure. As one of the top visionary and fantasist writers currently active in Japan, boasting overwhelming writing skills, he wouldn't be cursed for making a little more effort to let the world know of his talent.
...Despite books not coming out to the point where one wants to complain, considering that the name Masakuni Oda has not been forgotten and is still read eagerly, and wins some award every time a new book comes out, we should perhaps say that the Japanese publishing industry is still not something to give up on. (From the 'Wazawai' commentary)
'Wazawai' is a collection of weird fiction where each story has a body part as its motif.
The mouth in 'Shokusho', the ear in 'Mimi-moguri', the eye in 'Moshokuki', the flesh (fat) in 'Yawaraka na Tokoro e Kaeru', the nose in 'Nojo', the hair in 'Kamigawa', and the skin in 'Rafu to Rafu'. Startling whimsical ideas are born from the parts of the human body, inviting readers to an unseen world.
Not to mention being scary and terrifying, characters who have lost their way in life and have nowhere to go embark on a journey to a new world. It is a shuddering fear, but at the same time, an ecstasy. It is a weird fiction equipped with terrifying depth.
This work won 1st place in the domestic section of 'This Horror is Amazing! 2024 Edition' (Takarajimasha), alongside 'About a Certain Place in the Kinki Region' (written by Sesuji). Please come and visit the unexplored territory of weird fiction.
■Book Content Introduction
Once you eat one page, there's no turning back──. The novelist 'I' witnesses a woman devouring the pages of a book in an unlocked multi-purpose toilet.
Masakuni Oda debuted in 2009 after winning the Japan Fantasy Novel Award for 'Zoudaiha ni Tsugu'. In 2013, he took 1st place in the Twitter Literature Award (Domestic) for 'Hon ni Datte Osu to Mesu ga Arimasu'. In 2022, he won the Eiji Yoshikawa Prize for New Writers for 'Zangetsuki', and the Nihon SF Taisho Award the following year. 'Wazawai' is his fourth solo-authored book following those, and it won 1st place in the domestic section of 'This Horror is Amazing! 2024 Edition'. Despite his sparse output, all his works are masterpieces and highly acclaimed. The commentary by Nozomi Ohmori, included at the end of the paperback edition, also begins as follows:
Seriously, there is a limit to being unproductive.
Most fans of Masakuni Oda are probably muttering this with a sigh. His debut work 'Zoudaiha ni Tsugu', which won the Japan Fantasy Novel Award, was published in November 2009. Although over 16 years have passed since then, he has only four solo-authored books. That's just too few by any measure. As one of the top visionary and fantasist writers currently active in Japan, boasting overwhelming writing skills, he wouldn't be cursed for making a little more effort to let the world know of his talent.
...Despite books not coming out to the point where one wants to complain, considering that the name Masakuni Oda has not been forgotten and is still read eagerly, and wins some award every time a new book comes out, we should perhaps say that the Japanese publishing industry is still not something to give up on. (From the 'Wazawai' commentary)
'Wazawai' is a collection of weird fiction where each story has a body part as its motif.
The mouth in 'Shokusho', the ear in 'Mimi-moguri', the eye in 'Moshokuki', the flesh (fat) in 'Yawaraka na Tokoro e Kaeru', the nose in 'Nojo', the hair in 'Kamigawa', and the skin in 'Rafu to Rafu'. Startling whimsical ideas are born from the parts of the human body, inviting readers to an unseen world.
Not to mention being scary and terrifying, characters who have lost their way in life and have nowhere to go embark on a journey to a new world. It is a shuddering fear, but at the same time, an ecstasy. It is a weird fiction equipped with terrifying depth.
This work won 1st place in the domestic section of 'This Horror is Amazing! 2024 Edition' (Takarajimasha), alongside 'About a Certain Place in the Kinki Region' (written by Sesuji). Please come and visit the unexplored territory of weird fiction.
■Book Content Introduction
Once you eat one page, there's no turning back──. The novelist 'I' witnesses a woman devouring the pages of a book in an unlocked multi-purpose toilet.