is a Japanese

Japanese language

is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...

 literary magazine, published by Kawade Shobō Shinsha. It was founded at the beginning of the 1960s, and was originally published monthly, but became a quarterly in the 1980s. The magazine oversees the Bungei Prize

Bungei Prize

The is a Japanese literary award given by publishing company Kawade Shobō Shinsha. It was first awarded in 1962.-See also:* List of Japanese literary awards- External links :*...

, an open competition for discovering new writers. Writers such as Yasuo Tanaka

Yasuo Tanaka

is a Japanese novelist and politician. He served as the governor of Nagano prefecture from 2000 to 2006, became president of New Party Nippon and has been elected to Japan's legislatures.- Early life :...

, Akemi Hotta, Risa Wataya

Risa Wataya

is a female Japanese novelist from Kyoto.-Life:She rose to fame in 2003 upon receiving the Akutagawa Prize for her short novel Keritai Senaka , while at Waseda University. The prize was shared between Wataya and Hitomi Kanehara, another young, female author...

, and Natsu Minami are former prize-winners.