The 153rd Akutagawa Award and Naoki Award
Akira Higashiyama won the Naoki Prize
Author Akira Higashiyama answers journalistic questions during the Japanese literature award ceremony in downtown Tokyo on July 16, 2015. Japanese comedian Akira Higashiyama was a joint winner of the 153rd Akutagawa Prize for his book Hibana, along with Keisuke Hada who won the Prize for The Jimmy Hendrix Experience. Akira Higashiyama received the 153rd Naoki Prize for his novel Ryu. The winners also received one million Yen each in prize money. The Akutagawa Prize was founded in memory of renowned Japanese novelist Ryunosuke Akutagawa in 1935 and the Naoki award is named after popular writer Sanjugo Naoki, and was also created in 1953. (Photo by Rodrigo Reyes Marin/AFLO)