Mitsuyoshi Numano receives the Imperial Prize and the Japan Art Academy Prize for outstanding achievements in the field of world literature

It gives us immense pleasure to share with the IWL community that our distinguished Executive Committee member, Professor Mitsuyoshi Numano has recently been awarded the Imperial Prize and the Japan Art Academy Prize for outstanding achievements in the field of world literature: https://www.geijutuin.go.jp/en/ 

From the official statement of the Japan Art Academy: 

Mitsuyoshi Numano is a literary critic who has translated and introduced Russian and Polish literature in Japan—including works by Nabokov, Lem, and Chekhov—and has extensively worked and published on modern literature in Japan and around the world. The third volume of his major trilogy The Mass of the All-Night Vigil, entitled Essays on World Literature, is a monumental achievement, in which he thoroughly examines the literatures of various countries and regions, primarily Russia and Eastern Europe, and reflects on the nature of world literature through his interactions with writers and poets.

Together with Essays on Exile Literature and Essays on Utopian Literature, this trilogy represents the pinnacle of contemporary Japanese literary criticism. Professor Numano has served as president of the Japan Society for Russian Literature and vice president of the Japanese PEN Club, making significant contributions to both the academic world and the world of literary criticism.

The award ceremony is scheduled for July 6, 2026. An exhibition of the laureates’ works will be held from July 3 to 14 at the Japan Art Academy Hall in Tokyo. A section of the exhibition is dedicated to Professor Numano's major books and translations.