Hakyoku (Kawade Bunko To 10-2)

Product Description

Akutagawa Prize-winning novel now in paperback. This acclaimed work explores modern existence through the story of a university senior who has rigorously trained both his body and his life for success—only to face an unexpected collapse. Sharp, unsettling, and psychologically intense, it captures ambition, desire, and the fragility beneath self-discipline.

The narrator, a fourth-year student devoted to coaching junior rugby players and preparing for job hunting, meets a first-year student named Akari at a friend’s comedy show. Although he already has a high-achieving childhood friend and girlfriend, Maiko, he gradually finds himself drawn to Akari’s innocence, setting the stage for a quiet but devastating unraveling.

Written in a cool, precise style, this powerful novel portrays the downfall of a man shaped by the pressure to optimize himself for society. Featuring praise from Yoko Ogawa, Keiichiro Hirano, Eimi Yamada, and David Boyd, it is a standout work of contemporary Japanese fiction by the 163rd Akutagawa Prize winner.