Author Yusei Takiguchi guides us through the history of novels in the 2000s

Author Yuuki Takiguchi looks back on his reading log on the eve of his debut, focusing on the five major literary magazines [A]: Shincho, Bungakukai, Gunzo, Subaru, and Bungei.

In an era where strong criticism and a publishing recession make it difficult for new writers to stay, literary magazines have become a kind of wilderness, and it is writers from other fields who stimulate them.

For me, the 2000s corresponded to most of my twenties. After graduating from high school, I worked part-time for a few years, then went to university, and spent about ten years writing novels while working. During this time, I read a lot of books, both old and new, from all over the world.

Looking back at my impression of literary magazines at the time when I was looking for a place to submit novels I had written, I think it was something like, "They're tough on new writers, but at the same time, there's a lot of opportunity for writers from other fields to get involved."

In the 2000s, the judges for awards such as newcomer awards were much stricter than they are now, and it was a tough time for newcomers to survive. There was no welcoming atmosphere, and it felt like you were being baptized by intimidating predecessors.

However, harsh criticism is not unique to the 2000s; it has existed since before. I think the reason it was so hard for new artists in the 2000s was also due to the impact of the recession.

Publishers are no longer able to afford to train new writers, and it's becoming more difficult for new writers' works to be published in book form. In the past, even if a work was harshly criticized within the industry, the tide would turn once it was published in book form, but I think we're living in an age where that's becoming increasingly difficult.

Of course, there are also people who debuted in the 2000s and continue to be active, such as Risa Wataya, Hitomi Kanehara, Naoko Yamazaki, Fumino Nakamura, Shinya Tanaka, Kikuko Tsumura...the list is endless.

I don't know the details of what the actual situation was like at the time, but I imagine it must have been a difficult time after his debut, when his next work was published in a literary magazine and his manuscript was not approved.

On the other hand, what is particularly noteworthy about the scene in the 2000s is that writers active in genres other than literature began publishing novels in literary magazines. I think that the most symbolic of these were those in the theater field.

Many of these writers, such as Yukiko Motoya, Toshiki Okada, and Shiro Maeda, went on to win various literary awards and continue to write. I felt that their writing possessed theatrical ingenuity and energy.

On the other hand, there are writers like Ko Machida, who has been publishing novels since the late '90s, Mieko Kawakami 's early works, who also emerged on the scene in the 2000s, and Hideo Furukawa, who use their eloquence as a weapon, but the energy of the theater scene is different, and I got the impression that they are combining character development and composition to create the vitality that keeps the scene going. In this way, I think it can be said that writers from other genres are stimulating and cultivating the scene.

Similarly, many writers from genres adjacent to pure literature, such as science fiction and mystery, moved to the top five magazines. Maijo Otaro and Enjo Toh are prime examples.

Two essays on novels that encourage writers have also appeared. One is "On Novels" [B] by Kazushi Hosaka, which has been serialized in Shincho since 2003, and the other is "Japanese Novels" [C] by Genichiro Takahashi, which has been serialized in Bungakukai since 2004.

Hosaka's novels are often described as "nothing happening," but his theory of fiction provides a very practical view of the novel, stating that a novel cannot be reduced to a theme or story; rather, the sentences themselves are events, and that the reactions that arise within the reader when reading them are what make up the reading of a novel.

As with Takahashi's theory of novels, I think it was important that he advocated a way of reading and ultimately writing novels from the standpoint of a practicing author. I'm sure there were many writers, myself included, who were encouraged by these two theories of novels at the time.

Last year, the writer Machiya Ryohei launched a project called "After the Death of the Novel -- (For the Prose That Continues to Be Written) --" [D]. This project involves rereading and re-criticizing Japanese literature published between 2000 and 2015. This attempt to unearth and reinterpret works that have been buried under the circumstances mentioned above will likely lead to work that continues Hosaka's theory of novels from the 2000s.