Disability News Japan Podcast: Sao Ichikawa, A Woman with a Disability, Wins Japan’s Prestigious Literary Prize

By Barrier Free Japan

July 23 2023

JAPAN – Sao Ichikawa, the winner of the Akutagawa Prize, is a 43-year-old resident of Kanagawa Prefecture.

She was diagnosed with congenital myopathy, a muscle disease, one of the most intractable diseases, when she was 10 years old, began using a ventilator at the age of 14, uses an electric wheelchair for transportation, and writes using a tablet device.

Ichikawa has been creating and submitting light novels to awards for more than 20 years, and her first attempt at pure literature, “Hunchback,” won the ‘Bungakukai’ New Writer Award for her debut, and the Akutagawa Award was also awarded to her in her first nomination.

The protagonist of the story is a woman with the same serious disability as Ichikawa.

“I wrote this with the mind that there are not many authors (with severe disabilities) like me,” Ichikawa, who uses a ventilator and electric wheelchair, said in a press conference.

“I would like everyone to think about why it is that a work like this became a first to win the Akutagawa Prize in 2023,” the 43-year-old added.

Episode Notes:

Sao Ichikawa, Woman with Congenital Myopathy Wins Japan’s Akutagawa Prize

“I wrote this with the mind that there are not many authors like me” says Sao Ichikawa, Woman with a Disability on Winning the Akutagawa Prize