Mizushima Hiro Won Literature Award with his Debut Novel

Mizushima Hiro-水嶋ヒロ

Mizushima Hiro, who has ceased activity as an actor in order to pursue a writing career, has won "The 5th Poplar Publishing Novel Award" with his first work "KAGEROU". It has been only one month after the revelation of his writing activity, which is quite a surprise.

He attended the award ceremony for winning the grand prize in a novel competition by publisher Poplar today at its headquarters in Shinjuku. His debut novel 'KAGEROU' was written under the name Saito Tomo and chosen as the winner from 1285 entries. The novel fills about 388 pages of a 400-character manuscript paper and has the theme of 'life'. According to the publisher, the novel touches on the idea of saving a life from suicide but ultimately failing and has elements of science fiction. It also commented that while the novel is a little rough around the edges, it has potential and power. 8 out of the 13 judges voted it for the grand prize, which comes with a 20 million yen prize.

Mizushima has declined the prize money and instead requested that it be used to promote literature. Poplar has accepted his request and has plans to hold events such as storytelling in the future.

Below is a transcript of his speech.


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First of all, I am extremely honoured to receive such a prestigious award. I am still in disbelief that my novel which to me is an important first step in my life, has won the grand prize amongst all the entries. 

Above all else, I am thankful that my work which was submitted without the name Mizushima Hiro was evaluated on its own merit. I thank everyone from Poplar from the bottom of my heart. On this occasion, with so many reporters in attendance, please let me take this opportunity to explain the situation I have caused. 

First, to all the fans who have supported us, the reporters and all the parties concerned, I apologize for the surprise announcement (bows deeply). What I want to emphasise is that our relationship with our former agency was amicable to the end. Do not worry about the negative stories. We hold gratitude in our hearts for those who have supported us in the past as we continue our work from now on.

About the resignation, it was my own decision. I was not fired by the agency. We had been discussing it over some time, my reluctance to live a lifestyle revolving around being an actor. The agency then generously pushed me towards the decision and I am in gratitude. We had no intention of refuting any of the information that surfaced after the resignation, we only wanted to correct the one part that was untrue. The agency is not giving information which differs from what had happened and we still hold them in respect.

This has been a long speech. From now on, I will continue with work that revolves around important themes that everyone faces in their life. I want to incorporate important messages in my work and while it is brazen of me to say this, I want to contribute my bit to society, no matter how small it is. I am still inexperienced in many ways now and I look forward to your support from now on. Thank you very much for today (bows repeatedly).

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Source: unleashthegeek.blogspot.com