Natsuko Kuroda

is a Japanese writer. At the age of 75, she won the 148th Akutagawa Prize, making Kuroda the oldest winner in the history of the prize.

Biography

Kuroda was born in 1937 in Tokyo, Japan, and attended Waseda University. While at Waseda University she started the journal Sajo (Sandcastles), where she published her fiction. She graduated from Waseda University with a degree in Japanese, then worked various jobs as a teacher, administrator, and copy editor while continuing to write fiction.

Career In 1963, her story "Mari" ("Ball") won the 63rd Yomiuri Shimbun Short Story Newcomer Prize. For decades, Kuroda wrote stories that were published but did not win recognition in the form of literary awards. The next year, a b sango won the 148th Akutagawa Prize, making Kuroda, at the age of 75, the oldest winner in the prize's history. The Akutagawa Prize committee was not unanimous in its decision, but committee members commended Kuroda's experimental style. In 2013, her story Kanjutai no odori, which she had written many years before a b sango, was published in book form.

Recognition 1963: Yomiuri Shimbun Short Story Newcomer Prize 2013: 148th Akutagawa Prize (2012下)