Hibana

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. Read more →