Saou Ichikawa

Saou Ichikawa
Born (1979-09-27) September 27, 1979
Alma materWaseda University
OccupationWriter
Notable workHunchback
AwardsAkutagawa Prize (2023)

Saou Ichikawa (市川沙央, Ichikawa Saō; born 1979) is a Japanese writer. She is best known for her debut novel Hunchback, for which she won the Akutagawa Prize in 2023.

Biography

Ichikawa was born September 27, 1979.[1][2] She has congenital myopathy and uses a wheelchair and a respirator, the latter of which she has used since the age of 13.[3][4] She has an older sister, who also has congenital myopathy.[5] She decided to become a novelist when she was 20 years old, as she felt her career options were limited due to her disability.[6] She first began to write light novels, but grew discouraged after a light novel she wrote failed to win a prize, and decided to instead write serious fiction.[3] She graduated from Waseda University.[7] She grew up reading the Paddington Bear books by Michael Bond and the St. Clare's books by Enid Blyton; she named Dostoyevsky's The Idiot and Hermann Hesse's Siddhartha as having influenced her.[8]

At university, she began to research the representation of disabled people in literature, which inspired the writing of her novel Hunchback,[3] about a profoundly disabled woman, Izawa, who pays her male caretaker to have sex with her.[9] Hunchback was published in 2023. The novel was well-received: it sold 230,000 copies;[1] The Japan Times described it as "dark and funny".[10] She is the first disabled writer to win the Akutagawa Prize.[9] Novelist Keiichiro Hirano, who was on the jury for the Akutagawa Prize for that year, stated that the book "knocks down conventional wisdom and common sense centered on able-bodied people".[3] Viking Press acquired the English rights to the novel,[7] and a translation by Polly Barton was released in 2025. The translation received starred reviews from both Publishers Weekly and Kirkus Reviews, both of which praised the social commentary of the novel.[11][12] The English translation was longlisted for the International Booker Prize; the judges praised Hunchback for its criticism of ableism and sexism.[13]

Works

  • Träumerei's Dream (トロイメライのみる夢は), 2018[14] (Not yet translated)
  • Hunchback (ハンチバック), 2023
  • Ophelia No. 23 (オフィーリア23号), 2024[1] (Not yet translated)
  • Pick up a Konpeitou (こんぺいとを拾う), 2024 (Not yet translated)
  • Suicide the heartbeat(音の心中), 2024 (Not yet translated)
  • Girl's spine (女の子の背骨), 2025 (Not yet translated)
  • Conscientious objection (良心的兵役拒否), 2025 (Not yet translated) (Currently serialized)
    • #1 Looking back at the witty phrases (洒落た文句に振り返りゃ)
    • #2 Mama (ママ)
    • #3 Balloon papa (風船のパパ)
  • Evil role (悪のロール), 2025 (Not yet translated)
  • Pow(d)er (Pow(d)er), 2025 (Not yet translated)
  • Luck (運), 2025 (Not yet translated)

Awards and recognition

References

  1. ^ a b c "芥川賞作家・市川沙央が『文學界』最新号で、受賞第一作『オフィーリア23号』を発表". PR Times (in Japanese). 9 April 2024. Retrieved 28 February 2025.
  2. ^ Ichikawa, Saou (September 4, 2025). "Post by @ssaaoouu.bsky.social". Bluesky. Retrieved January 2, 2026.
  3. ^ a b c d Yamazaki, Satoshi (20 July 2023). "Akutagawa Prize for author Ichikawa makes disability visible". The Asahi Shimbun. Retrieved 28 February 2025.
  4. ^ Fackler, Martin (15 May 2025). "The Prize-Winning Novel Challenging 'Ableist Machismo' in Japan". The New York Times. Retrieved 15 May 2025.
  5. ^ "「日本の"読書バリアフリー環境"の遅れは目につきました」市川沙央氏が芥川賞受賞作で伝えたかった自身の"問題意識" 新芥川賞作家 市川沙央氏インタビュー | 読書オンライン". Bunshun (in Japanese). Retrieved 28 February 2025.
  6. ^ Tanaka, Kana. "Disabled author channels personal experience in award-winning novel | NHK WORLD-JAPAN News". NHK. Archived from the original on September 27, 2023. Retrieved 28 February 2025.
  7. ^ a b c Wood, Heloise (1 November 2023). "Viking pre-empts Ichikawa's Hunchback". The Bookseller. Retrieved 28 February 2025.
  8. ^ "An interview with Saou Ichikawa and Polly Barton, author and translator of Hunchback | The Booker Prizes". Booker Prizes. 14 March 2025. Retrieved 27 April 2025.
  9. ^ a b Kinnas, Miho (March 2025). "Hunchback by Saou Ichikawa". World Literature Today. Retrieved 28 February 2025.
  10. ^ Ha, Thu-huong (2 September 2023). "Saou Ichikawa's 'Hunchback': A darkly funny portrait of disability". The Japan Times. Retrieved 28 February 2025.
  11. ^ "Hunchback by Saou Ichikawa". Publishers Weekly. 6 December 2024. Retrieved 28 February 2025.
  12. ^ "HUNCHBACK | Kirkus Reviews". Kirkus Reviews. 15 February 2025. Retrieved 28 February 2025.
  13. ^ "Hunchback: Longlisted for the International Booker Prize 2025 | The Booker Prizes". thebookerprizes.com. 6 March 2025. Retrieved 28 February 2025.
  14. ^ "トロイメライのみる夢は｜さざなみｓ（市川沙央）". note（ノート） (in Japanese). 2018-07-11. Retrieved 2025-10-22.
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