NEW YORK -- Writer Yu Miri's "Tokyo Ueno Station" won this year's National Book Award for Translated Literature, the award-presenting National Book Foundation announced on Wednesday night in New York.
The National Book Awards, with five categories, are among the most prestigious literary awards in the United States.
"Tokyo Ueno Station" is an English translation of "JR Ueno Eki Koenguchi," which portrays the hard life of a man who came from Fukushima Prefecture to work and eventually became homeless in Tokyo's Ueno district. Through the story of the man, who had long devoted himself to working away from home for his family, the novel poses questions about Japan's postwar policy of prioritizing economic growth and its modern society in which disparities persist.
Yu has been spending time in Fukushima Prefecture since the area was hit hard by the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake. The novel heavily reflects her experiences of interacting with the Fukushima residents. It was published in Japan in 2014 and was later translated into English by Morgan Giles.
Yu, who had worked as a playwright and stage director, won the Kishida Kunio Drama Prize in 1993 for "Uo no Matsuri" (Festival of fish). She then started writing novels and won the Akutagawa Prize in 1997 for "Kazoku Cinema" (Family Cinema). Her other works include "Inochi" (Life) and "Hachigatsu no Hate" (End of August).
After the earthquake, she hosted a radio show at a station temporarily set up in Minami-Soma, Fukushima Prefecture, to spread disaster-related information, and then moved to the city in 2015. She has put much effort into cultural activities, including renovating her home to include a bookstore that she runs.
At the online award ceremony, Yu thanked Giles in English for translating her work. She then said she wanted to share the joy with people in Minami-Soma.
"The work is based on layers of experiences and voices of people in Minami-Soma. I'm grateful that local residents said it was their story," she said at the subsequent online press conference for the Japanese media.
"When I was waiting for a time to win a literary award in my 20's, I was thinking it would be nice for my own sake. But this time, I am thinking it would be great if this would be a present to everyone [in the region]," she added.
In 2018, Berlin-based writer Yoko Tawada's "The Emissary" won the same award.
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