Tokyo: The life of a literary giant begins with home self-defense!

Chapter 387: The Incomplete "Ancient Capital" (Part 1)
Tokyo was sunny and breezy.

The distant white clouds were blown away by the hot wind, and the hot girl on the street corner rolled up her skirt high.

"So, the first Jun'ichirō Tanizaki Prize will be awarded to 'The Makioka Sisters' for now. We will hold a press conference tomorrow, and if there are no problems, we will present the award to Mr. Makoto Miyamoto on the first weekend of July."

While Tatsukawa Tetsu was wavering in Britain over the Frank Fiction Prize, a major event was also taking place in Tokyo.

The winners of the first Tanizaki Jun'ichirō Prize were announced. On this day in early July, the Japan Writers Association and the literary prize organizing committee, composed of representatives from the Agency for Cultural Affairs and publishing house editors, met at the University of Tokyo to discuss the award ceremony that would be held a few days later.

Organize events and establish literary awards.

Everything was done to ensure that the orthodoxy of traditional Japanese literature would not be lost.

"How is Mr. Akechi's student doing lately?"

During the conversation, the topic inevitably turned to Tatsukawa Tetsu, a member of the judging panel for the Tanizaki Jun'ichirō Prize, who looked curiously at the elderly man who had come to participate in the meeting that day.

The old man, wearing golden ears of wheat, is a professor from Waseda University next door.

Logically speaking, not many people in China are qualified to comment on an elderly person's articles, but there's no other way.

Judge Jun'ichirō Tanizaki, who was speaking, glanced around.

Seiichi Taro Miya, Yuuki Kaga, Tsukasa Mishima.

All the well-known writers in China are here, but you can't find anyone who can comment on their works.

Seiichi Taro Miyabi's work won the Tanizaki Jun'ichirō Prize, while Susumu Akechi's "Feeding" won the runner-up prize.

The list of winners of this year's Jun'ichirō Tanizaki Prize is staggering; any random person you pick is a member of the upper-class literary circles who would have been rarely seen before.

"Longchuan?"

Mentioning this name makes Akechi Susumu a little dizzy.

His student arrived at Waseda University when the cherry blossoms were in full bloom.

However, in the middle of the Medicine King Poetry Gathering, there was a group portrait appreciation and selection.

So many things have happened.

"Ashamed to say that."

Today is the announcement of the internal rankings for the Jun'ichirō Tanizaki Prize, and there are many, many people present.

Standing in a corner of the hall, watching the chaotic crowd.

“I haven’t been able to contact him for a long time either.”

Mingzhi Jin sighed.

He couldn't understand how his students, who should have been full of ambition, had ended up like this.

The retranslation of The Tale of Genji involved the participation of a Princeton academic team.

Longchuan Che went further and further down the wrong path, to the point that no young people were present at this literary event where he should have had a place.

Those present were dressed in solemn kimonos and chatted amongst themselves.

Mingzhi looked left and right.

There were no places for their own students.

"I do know a little about his recent situation."

The judge was mysterious. I knew him; he was the editor-in-chief of international news at the Yomiuri Shimbun and was very well-informed about international affairs.

"Oh, then tell me about it."

Mingzhi Jin smiled and found a quiet corner to sit down.

The surrounding area was bustling with noise as the organizing committee members discussed the awards ceremony in July with the various authors.

Actually, organizing this awards ceremony is quite difficult.

Most of the participants are celebrities and intellectuals, and a poor arrangement could embarrass all parties involved.

Tsukasa Mishima disputed why his novel "The Great General of the Shogun" was not included in the award list, while Taketo Shirakawa wondered why his casually written essay collection "Catching Shadows and Seeking Truths" was included in the award list.

One competition produces one winner, three runners-up, and five semi-finalists.

It must be said that the Tanizaki Jun'ichirō Prize went to great lengths to avoid offending any famous or literary figures.

"I've heard about him." Before the well-informed editor could finish speaking, several people had already sat down in this corner.

The place where the "Jun'ichirō Tanizaki Award Internal Announcement" was posted was a small auditorium.

Rows of tiered seats were occupied by officials and people from the literary world.

"You don't need to stand in front anymore?"

The person who came over and sat down was a good friend of Mingzhi Jin, the monk Hongping, dressed in plain clothes.

The old monk had clearly not participated in such an award competition for many years. He had just been surrounded by a group of people, and now, with sweat dripping down his face, he looked rather annoyed.

"It's just a formality."

The old monk glanced ahead.

This year's Jun'ichirō Tanizaki Prize presents a situation where the literary status of the participants and the judges is reversed.

Almost no one would think he wouldn't win the award, and almost no one would think they could beat him.

The all-encompassing nature of "The Makioka Sisters" led everyone to believe it would win the Jun'ichirō Tanizaki Prize, and many were waiting for the old monk to use his victory in this classic literature prize to discuss the tumultuous "Snow Country" with Tatsukawa Toru.

The heavy snow that drifted from the north was studied by more and more people as it sparked a trend of classical literature in Japan.

"A representative of the beauty of mono no aware" and "A clear and transparent snowscape in the north."

The more you study it, the more you can see the contribution of "Snow Country" to the inheritance of the pathos of things. Nowadays, there are hardly any people who feel that they can talk to Tatsukawa Toru about traditional aesthetics.

"What are you talking about?"

Hirohira was helped over by his student, Muro Annei, followed by Mishima Tsukasa, who was saying congratulations with satisfaction.

The three of them squeezed into the back row, making it a bit cramped.

Mingzhi Jin glanced at the editor-in-chief who had just spoken.

"We're talking about that 'traitor to the people' you mentioned."

Mingzhi Jin harbored considerable resentment towards his old friend.

In his view, his conflict with Tatsukawa Tetsu was, in any case, a dispute between schools of thought.

"A group of celebrities cheating? Do you think he would do something like that?"

At the time, Akechi Susumu had approached his old friend about the Gunzo Award. In many cases, the Japanese literary world was dominated by Hirohei's one-man rule, and if Hirohei was willing to step in, the controversy would be resolved quickly.

"What does it matter to me whether he would do such a thing? He should have expected this outcome if he got too involved with people from the Ministry of Education."

At that time, the monk Hongping spoke sternly, as if Longchuan Che had brought this outcome upon himself.

Japanese intellectuals have maintained a clear separation from the government since the last century.

Writers filled in the gaps and made up for the shortcomings, while the government was swayed by public opinion.

The two sides are actually somewhat hostile.

In fact, Akechi Susumu wanted to say that you also collaborated with the Agency for Cultural Affairs because of "The Tale of Genji," but fearing that it would infuriate the old monk, the Waseda professor chose to remain silent.

"Oh, what is he doing now?"

Monk Hongping was flipping through a book of line drawings, on which was written—
The one on Mount Higashiyama's Nyoi-mine peak is the proper "Daimonji"; the one on Mount Daikichi near Kinkaku-ji is called "Saka Daimonji"; and the one on Mount Matsuzaki is "Myoho".
The text describes a small scene from the Obon festival in Kyoto.

Simple words, unpretentious language.

Ming Zhijin glanced at it; the line art was titled "Ancient Capital."

Suddenly, several more important people arrived, making the editor-in-chief of the Yomiuri Shimbun a little nervous.

"Teacher Gong Cheng,"

The editor-in-chief of the Yomiuri Shimbun swallowed hard and said:

"I heard that Ireland is preparing to award the Frank Prize for Fiction to Tatsukawa Toru, and..."

The editor-in-chief looked left and right.

He lowered his voice and said:

"And they intend to invite him to join the Irish Writers' Association."

(End of this chapter)