Naoki Matayoshi

Naoki Matayoshi is a Japanese comedian, novelist, and member of the comedy duo Piko Taro. Born in 1980 in Osaka, he is one of the most surprising and celebrated figures in recent Japanese literary history: a stand-up comedian who won the Akutagawa Prize with his debut novel Hibana (Spark), defeating writers who had dedicated their careers to literature. Hibana (Spark), which won the Akutagawa Prize in 2015, is a novel about the world of manzai comedy — the traditional double-act Japanese comedy form — following a young comedian's relationship with his brilliant, self-destructive mentor. The novel is a meditation on artistic perfectionism, the nature of comedy, and the gap between aspiration and achievement. The novel was adapted into a Netflix series, becoming one of the platform's most successful Japanese productions. Its success brought significant international attention to Matayoshi and to Japanese comedy culture. Matayoshi continues to work as a comedian and occasional novelist, occupying an unusual position in Japanese culture as a genuinely successful practitioner in both fields. His Akutagawa Prize win is considered one of the most remarkable in the prize's history.