Akutagawa Prize
Mari Akasaka was born in Suginami, Tokyo, and studied Politics in the Law Department at Keio University. In 1999 her novel "Vibrator" was nominated for the Akutagawa Prize. She was again nominated for the Akutagawa prize in 2000 for her novel, "Muse", and won the Noma Literary Prize for New Writers for the same novel.