【Why Meiji Gakuin University? 】New Article about Faculty Graduate Touma Aisaka, Agatha Christie Award Winner

The “Why Meiji Gakuin University?” page on the University website has posted an interview with the Dept. of International Studies graduate and novelist Touma Aisaka. He recently received the 11th Agatha Christie Award that is sponsored by the Kiyoshi Hayakawa Foundation and Hayakawa Publishing, Inc. Aisaka’s work was honored as the first winner to receive full marks from the selection committee. He was nominated for the Naoki Award as well. In the interview at the link below, Aisaka reflects upon his studies at Meiji Gakuin. (The article is in Japanese.)

▼Why Meiji Gakuin University?｜Meiji Gakuin University
https://www.meijigakuin.ac.jp/about/why/aisaka/index.html

Touma Aisaka (逢坂 冬馬)
1985 Born in Saitama Pref. 2008 Graduated from the Dept. of International Studies in the Faculty of International Studies.
2021 His novel “Doushi shoujo yo, teki wo ute” (literally translated as “Young woman comrade! Shoot the Enemy”) received the 11th Agatha Christie Award. He is the first winner to receive a perfect score of 5 from the selection committee since the award began. The same novel was nominated for the 166th Naoki Prize, and it is now a candidate for the 2022 Honya Grand Prize (Japan Booksellers’ Award). (As suggested by the title, Aisaka’s work takes up the story of a young woman who was a Soviet Army sniper during WWII to explore the cruelty of war from the perspective of women who fought in that conflict.)