I am a literary giant in Japan

After the news that the Naoki Prize had invited Kitagawa Hide to serve as a lifetime judge came out, even though there was only less than a month left until the deadline, the number of manuscripts pouring in from all over Japan suddenly increased dozens of times.

For this reason, this group of reviewers had to stay in the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo all day and constantly review the new manuscripts.

As more and more excellent manuscripts are discovered, the original shortlist is updated again and again.

The manuscript that Kitagawa Hide noticed was also noticed by others at the same time.

But when everyone saw him reaching out to take it, they all returned to their seats and re-examined other manuscripts.

When I opened the submission envelope, a row of beautiful handwriting came into view.

Novel title: "Love Letter".

Author: Shunji Iwai.

"It's really a novel written by Mr. Iwai." Kitagawa Hide remembered that the novel of the same name for Shunji Iwai's real famous movie "Love Letter" was written because of "Norwegian Wood".

It seems that when the butterfly's wings flap, the timeline will converge, and many things will return to their original trajectory.

"Dear judges, please allow me to use a few short words to describe the influence of Mr. Beichuan's new work "Norwegian Wood" on this book."

Shunji Iwai wrote more than a hundred words in the preface, telling how he was influenced by "Norwegian Wood" and came up with this story.

The words are filled with worship and admiration for Kitagawa Hide, he is simply a devout believer.

“Two years after Fujii Itsuki passed away.

The second anniversary of the death on March 3. Girls' Day. Kobe had a rare snowfall, and the cemetery was covered in snow. The black and mottled white of the mourning clothes were entangled together.

Hiroko looked up at the sky. The white snowflakes were falling endlessly from the colorless and transparent sky. It was so beautiful that it was beyond words.

In the delicate text, Kitagawa Hide seemed to see through the manuscript paper and see the opening scene of the classic movie again——

Hiroko Watanabe, played by Miho Nakayama, looks up at the snowy sky. The falling snowflakes and her beautiful face are intertwined, like a ethereal painting.

That night, while Akiha and the others were probably carrying out their plan, Hiroko began writing a letter to Shu. She sent it to the address written on her left wrist.

If what Andai said is true, that place has become the roadbed of a national highway and the letter cannot be delivered there at all.

This should be a letter that cannot be sent anywhere - it is meaningful precisely because it cannot be sent anywhere.

Because this letter was written to him who is no longer alive.

Fujii Itsuki:
Are you OK? I am fine.

——Hiroko Watanabe

That's all the content of the letter.

After repeated consideration, Rou crumpled up many pieces of letter paper, and finally wrote only these few words in the letter.

Hiroko herself found it strange, but she liked it so short and concise.

(He'll love it, too.)
Hiroko dropped the letter into a nearby mailbox overnight.

The mysterious Jinling made a faint "sha" sound at the bottom of the mailbox, and the event ended in a satisfying way.

This was a conspiracy of Hiroko on the anniversary of Fujii Itsuki's death.

The snow is still fluttering in the night sky."

This love letter by Shunji Iwai consists of only four short chapters, with timeless, fresh and refined language, and is filled with various tributes to "Norwegian Wood".

For example, one of the female protagonists, Hiroko Watanabe, did not follow her husband Fujii's last name, but used "Watanabe" from "Toru Watanabe";
For example, Hiroko, who looked up at the sky and felt the winter in the heavy snow, was like Toru Watanabe, who was lonely when he got off the plane at the age of 37 and encountered snowfall at the Hamburg Airport in Germany;

For example, the feelings between Fujii Itsuki and Hiroko are exactly the same as those between Watanabe, Naoko, and Midori, and the personalities of the two groups are also very similar.

Even though Kitagawa Hideyuki had seen the movie and the original novel several times in his previous life, he was still extremely surprised to touch the original manuscript and feel that Iwai Shunji was influenced by him in his creation.

The continuation and vitality of literature is the torch passed down from generation to generation.

"This manuscript has the potential to win an award." Kitagawa Hide handed "Love Letter" to several other people.

After hearing what Teacher Beichuan said, the old men and women curiously took the manuscripts and read them one by one.

Hide Kitagawa is well aware of how touching the story of "Love Letter" is, especially the wide influence of the movie of the same name, which has spread to the entire Southeast Asia region and is regarded as a classic by movie fans in countless countries.

"Are you OK?"

"I'm very good."

This dialogue that transcends time and space is the most classic line in "Love Letter" and was once popular all over Japan.

This model of pen pal letter communication was also very popular in various countries in the 1980s and 1990s, and resonated with countless readers.

After reading it, several judges nodded in approval.

"It's a pity that this is the debut work of a blank slate writer. If he had similar works to prove his ability like Keigo Higashino and could stand up to the test of adaptation, he would be worthy of winning the award."

Someone sighed.

The Naoki Prize is different from the Tanizaki Prize and the Akutagawa Prize. It is an award for popular literature that values ​​the influence and promotion of a novel more than its literary quality.

To put it bluntly, pure literature awards do not look at sales and fame, but the Naoki Prize places a lot of emphasis on these. Giving such a big award to a blank-paper writer always feels like a bit of gambling.

This situation reminded Kitagawa Hide of his debut.

Although he did not participate in that selection, he was later able to piece together the scene of the Group Portrait Newcomer Award selection that year with the help of information provided by Rena Saito and Osamu Takeuchi.

Within Kodansha, only Saito Rena and Muramatsu Tomoshi supported him as a blank slate writer, while other editors firmly disagreed with letting him, a blank slate writer, win the award.

Later, after finally getting published and winning an award, the resources were snatched away by the senior, Oshima Hikaru, and the publication of the physical book was blocked in various ways.

The Japanese literary world is declining because these awards, which are supposed to support a large number of newcomers, are hoarded and not allowed to give resources to blank writers, resulting in a gradual decline in literary talents!

"It has been confirmed that Higashino-san's book "The Devotion of Suspect X" will win the first Kitagawa Literature Prize."

Kitagawa Hide said as he put the "Love Letter" in front of everyone.
"And this novel is no worse than The Suspect. I think it has the potential to win this year's Naoki Prize."

After he said so, and Iwai Shunji's "Love Letter" was indeed well written, a group of old men and women immediately changed their tone, saying that it would be good to let a blank writer win the award, which would also attract more newcomers to the Naoki Prize and the literary world.

Looking at a group of former literary giants who now follow his lead, Kitagawa Hide suddenly realized that, without realizing it, he had really been recognized by many people as the "number one in the world" in Japanese literary world.

Thinking of the painting "The Best in the World" hanging in the Peter Cat Cafe, he was suddenly filled with emotion.

His fame is constantly rising and his strength is also improving. His future literary creation path is to write books step by step, learn and improve, and then compete for the highest peak of the world literary scene.

1997 12 Month 8 Day.

In the last month of this year, citizens of Asian countries such as Japan and South Korea had an uncomfortable time.

South Korea was completely plunged into a terrible financial crisis.

The entire nation tightened its belts and cut almost all spending during this cold winter.

The only thing that made the people in the Seoul metropolitan area willing to spend money on was the new book that the famous Japanese writer Kitagawa Hideo brought from overseas.

"One Hundred Years of Solitude".

Korean readers felt that they were unfortunate.

Because they heard that Mr. Beichuan had published a new book called "Norwegian Wood", they couldn't eat the freshest and most delicious food.

At the same time, the publishing houses in South Korea failed to reach an agreement with Kawaide Shobo on the publishing rights of Kitagawa Hide's other novels, so they couldn't even get to eat "old rice".

They also feel that they are lucky.

Because I was able to read "One Hundred Years of Solitude" when I was most depressed, my soul seemed to be comforted.

A 39-year-old book lover told a reporter from Seoul TV that he wanted to read the newly bought One Hundred Years of Solitude as soon as possible: "I want to start reading it as soon as I get home.

Although I want to savor every sentence, I will probably read the entire novel in one sitting.

Because Mr. Kitagawa writes so well!
I would feel very sorry if I couldn’t finish it in one sitting!”

While Koreans were frantically buying up "One Hundred Years of Solitude", the Japanese on the other side were living in dire straits due to the financial crisis.

Banks went bankrupt one after another, and the confusion and loneliness in life shown in "Norwegian Wood" became a reality.

Office workers, students, bosses, workers, bus drivers, cleaners, security guards, and nannies all hold a copy of the November issue of Literature and Art, and the phrase they keep saying is: "Death is not the opposite of life."

The first issue of "Kitagawa" also became very popular due to the popularity of Kitagawa Hide. The Kitagawa Prize announced the shortlist and winners, and Keigo Higashino won the first Kitagawa Literature Prize without any suspense.

In a letter to his readers, he said that of all the literary awards he had received, "the Kitagawa Prize is the one I cherish the most, love the most, and am most honored to receive!"

Mayumi Aso and Shiro Dango were very depressed for not winning the award. They ran to Hide Kitagawa and his wife to have a drink, play with the two little guys, and then left contentedly.

Masato Senhara, who finally chose to resign from the bank and run away, officially joined Kitagawa Investment, and his position and salary were significantly improved compared to when he was in the bank.

He was very grateful for the support from Mr. Beichuan, but also felt deeply about the fickleness of fate.

It is said that for the same thing, a young colleague named Hanzawa was unfortunately kicked out by the head office and sent to a securities company.

What he said also reminded Kitagawa Hide of the hit national drama "Hanzawa Naoki" which later became popular all over Japan.

After finishing The Old Man and the Sea, he considered continuing to write novels focusing on social situations.

Finally, it’s about the Naoki Award.

Iwai Shunji was on vacation in the United States when he received a call from Kitagawa Hide, and he was stunned.

He never thought that his novel, which was a poor imitation of "Norwegian Wood", would win an award and receive high praise from Mr. Kitagawa!
It really doesn’t matter whether he wins the award or not, and Shunji Iwai has no intention of making a name for himself in the literary world.

But Kitagawa Hide's affirmation made him regain his confidence.

He was quite frustrated when he left the crew of "The Dancing Girl of Izu" before.

Originally, Kitagawa Hide planned to catch up on the progress and start serializing "The Old Man and the Sea" in the last issue of "Wenyi" this year on December 12, but a call from the Swedish Academy suddenly disrupted his rhythm.

The 1997 Nobel Prize in Literature will be awarded at the Stockholm Concert Hall on December 12.

As one of the finalists, he was invited to attend the ceremony.

Kitagawa Hideya was the only Asian writer invited. (End of this chapter)