Tokyo Tycoon, Start as a Writer

Chapter 21 Road to Winning
The road to winning awards for "The Dancing Girl of Izu" was not all smooth sailing.

The entire review cycle lasts for six days and is divided into three steps.

In the first step, eight judges conducted a preliminary screening and selected 50 works from 30 to enter the second round.

In the second step, each judge will score the 30 works that enter the second round in turn, and select the 10 with the highest scores to enter the final round.

In the third step, the judges will make a final assessment of the ten works with the highest scores and decide the winning works.

As a rule of thumb, the entire process can be completed on the fifth day.

But this time, on July 7th, the jury was still arguing.

There is only one point of contention.

Should this year's Newcomer Award be given to "The Dancing Girl of Izu", which ranked first in the second round of ratings, or to "Eggs and High Walls", which ranked second in the second round of ratings?
Three judges insisted that the grand prize should be given to "Eggs and High Walls".

These three people are headed by Culture Agency official Seiichiro Ito.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs is one of the external bureaus under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan, and is responsible for coordinating cultural and religious exchange affairs in Japan.

All literary matters, big or small, are under the management of the Agency for Cultural Affairs, so Ito Seiichirō's opinion is very decisive.

The current social atmosphere in Japan is generally depressing and miserable.

Since the bursting of the economic bubble, Japan has experienced the so-called "lost twenty years". The developed country, which was once full of gold, is now facing an unprecedented social crisis.

The population is aging and the birth rate is declining.

The social structure is rigidified and the path to upward advancement is blocked.

The elderly just drink and wait for death, the middle-aged people commit suicide frequently due to excessive burdens, and the young people have no desires and live from day to day like zombies.

Walking on the bustling streets of Shibuya, one can feel the atmosphere of despondency coming from all directions, as if this country will be completely ruined within ten years.

When there is a problem with the social atmosphere, government departments naturally have to find ways to correct it, and the Department of Culture has the heaviest task among them.

After entering the new century, they would appoint a representative to serve as a judge for each major literary award, putting pressure on major publishing houses to select works with a positive and healthy style, so as to lead the social atmosphere in a hopeful direction.

As the leader of the five major pure literature magazines, Shincho naturally could not escape the pressure from the Ministry of Culture.

The government’s appeal is very simple. To put it in plain words, it means: Stop writing those depressing things and write more family love stories or passionate workplace dramas to encourage citizens to get married, have children, and work hard!

Japanese literati have a very high social status.

Generally speaking, intellectuals don't need to look at the faces of government officials when doing things.

But the Ministry of Culture is, after all, the department that directly manages the cultural and entertainment industry, and the publication and distribution of new books need to be approved by them. If they have not torn their relations, most writers are willing to give the Ministry of Culture a face.

The reason why there is still controversy within the jury of this year's New Wave Award on the day of announcing the winning works is because some people do not give face to the Ministry of Culture.

This person is Waseda professor, Seino Nakaharu.

He is knowledgeable, experienced, and has made great achievements in the study of modern Japanese literature. He is one of the leading literary critics in Japan.

He is impartial and fair in his work. He evaluates people as they should be evaluated, and never considers the factors of "human relations and worldly wisdom".

One of the things that people talk about most is that he criticized his daughter's debut work to pieces, causing his daughter to run away from home in anger. She has been in a cold war with him for more than two years.

Only the trendy groups that claim to be "fair" would dare to invite such a rigid and conservative person who is inflexible to be a judge.

Seino Nakaharu only commented on literature and rarely published any publications himself.

If he doesn't publish any publications, he won't have any weaknesses that can be exploited by the Ministry of Culture, and the Ministry of Culture can't control him, so he doesn't give Ito Seiichiro any face at all.

"Mr. Kiyono, when selecting award-winning works, we still have to consider the social impact." Ito Seiichiro tapped the table lightly with his fingertips, his tone steady and a bit official.

Looking around at the judges present, he continued, "Japan is currently facing a very serious population problem. As a literary worker, you should play a teaching role in this, and encourage young people to fall in love and have children with more positive and excellent works. The Dancing Girl of Izu is good, but in terms of concept, it is far inferior to The Egg and the High Wall."

As soon as he finished speaking, the other two judges who supported him immediately nodded in agreement.

"The Egg and the High Wall, which was created based on the sarin gas incident, conveys a beautiful atmosphere of everyone working together to deal with the disaster, actively recovering after the disaster, and rebuilding confidence."

one of them said.

Another one immediately followed up with: "This kind of work that guides people to be positive is the good work that today's society needs." After they finished speaking, some of the remaining people nodded, while others remained silent.

All of the people present here are at the top of the cultural industry. They either have extremely long experience or are extremely capable.

None of them are stupid.

Judging from the quality of the manuscript, "The Dancing Girl of Izu" is undoubtedly far superior to "Eggs and High Walls".

However, the core idea conveyed by the manuscript of "The Dancer" is ultimately not positive enough, and is completely contrary to the requirement put forward by the Ministry of Culture to "rely on literature to inspire the hearts of the people."

If you don’t want to offend the Ministry of Culture, then don’t choose “Dancing Girl”.

In response to Ito Seiichiro's words, Seino Nakaharu did not give any face and said coldly: "It is the job of you government officials to make the people confident and capable of having children. As a cultural practitioner, what I need is a fair and strict attitude, a rigorous academic attitude, not to help your government clean up its mess!"

After hearing this, Ito Seiichiro could only smile bitterly.

Old guys like Nakaharu Kiyono, who have no weaknesses but are very powerful, are the biggest headache for the government.

"Does Kiyono think "Dancing Girl" deserves the award?" asked an old writer named Hase, who has a very high reputation in the literary world and his opinion is very important.

"Yes!" Seino Nakaji nodded heavily, and his eyes could not help but fall on the manuscript paper. While reading, he whispered: "In recent years, in order to stop the downward trend in sales, the five major pure literature magazines have been moving their content closer to popular literature, and their awards have become more and more commercial. If this continues, the entire literary world will be ruined. I think the emergence of "Dancing Girl" is a clear stream, a stream that goes back to the source and washes away this commercial filth!"

After hearing this, Hase watched "Dancing Girl" again.

From the very beginning, this book creates a faint sad tone.

That kind of regret spreads uncontrollably, enough to overwhelm every reader.

Amidst the regrets, the hazy and shy first love seems so precious.

Everyone knows that students like dancers.

Dancers also like students.

But in the end they still couldn't be together.

Hase couldn't help but sigh.

What a pity, what a pity...what a pity.

The vague love between the student and the dancer was as pure as petals falling from branches, floating in the air without being contaminated by dust in the process.

It’s beautiful, so beautiful that it’s unreal.

If there is no regret in the ending, it will lose the charm of the novel. Love will become tragedy, and regret will become poetry...

Hase put down the manuscript and calmed down his emotions. Just as he was about to speak, Ito Seiichiro spoke first, "These days, the online public opinion is very dissatisfied with the fact that this writer named Mishima was shortlisted for the selection. At the same time, the voices for "Eggs and High Walls" to win the award can be described as overwhelming. If the final winner is "Dancing Girl", the public will definitely not buy it. By then, the reputation of all the teachers will probably be greatly affected..."

After these words were spoken, Hase's expression became conflicted again.

At his age, there is nothing left to fight for except fame.

He felt that it was not worth it if his reputation was damaged because of choosing a new writer. He thought there was no need to sink down with a new writer, and the balance in his heart gradually tilted towards "Eggs and Walls".

The room was silent.

Everyone's eyes were on Hase.

All he had to do was side with Seiichiro Ito and the dispute would be over.

"Mr. Ito, I'm afraid..."

At this time, Seino Nakaharu suddenly spoke up, looking at the official from the Ministry of Culture with a hint of murderous intent in his eyes: "If word gets out that you chose your own nephew-in-law as the winner, it will be a bigger blow to your reputation, right?"

These words won the game.

Whether you are still hesitating or have already made a decision, you can only choose "The Dancing Girl of Izu".

Including Seiichiro Ito.

(End of this chapter)