Masahiko Shimada

is a Japanese writer. He has won the Noma Literary New Face Prize, the Izumi Kyōka Prize for Literature, the Itō Sei Literature Prize, and the Mainichi Publishing Culture Award. His work has been translated into English.

Biography While studying Russian at Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, Shimada published a story called that was nominated for the Akutagawa Prize. The next year he won the 6th Noma Literary New Face Prize for his novel . A 2017 retrospective review by Stephen Mansfield of The Japan Times described Dream Messenger as "existential novel that manages to remain firmly grounded within the parameters of a compelling narrative." The same year that Dream Messenger was published in English, Shimada won the 20th Izumi Kyōka Prize for Literature for , a parody of Natsume Sōseki's novel Kokoro.

Shimada wrote the libretto for Shigeaki Saegusa's opera Chūshingura, which Werner Herzog directed in its 1997 Tokyo debut.

Shimada directed and performed in his own play Yurariumu (Ulalium) in 1990. His Japanese translation of Steve Erickson's Rubicon Beach appeared in 1991.

In 2016 Shimada won the 70th Mainichi Publishing Culture Award for his novel . 1992: 20th Izumi Kyōka Prize for Literature 2006: 17th Itō Sei Literature Prize 2016: 70th Mainichi Publishing Culture Award 2022: Medal with Purple Ribbon