Jose Ando

Jose Ando, born in 1994 in Tokyo to Afro-Asian parents, is a Japanese novelist whose rapid rise to prominence began with his 2022 debut novel Jackson Alone (Juste Jackson), which won the Bungei Prize and was shortlisted for the Akutagawa Prize. His subsequent works L'Homme Camouflage (2023) and DTOPIA (2024) earned further nominations for prestigious awards, culminating in winning the Akutagawa Prize in January 2025 for DTOPIA, establishing him as a vital new voice exploring identity, race, queerness, and minority experiences in contemporary Japan. Japan Times, Soho Press