芥川龍之介賞
"Snakes and Earrings" won the 27th for unpublished stories in 2003. The story was published for the first time in the November 2003 issue of the literary magazine "Shōsetsu Subaru". In January 2004, "Snakes and Earrings" won the 130th Akutagawa Prize. While "Snakes and Earrings" was the overall favorite of the Akutagawa Prize committee, the award was shared with Risa Wataya for her story "Keritai Senaka", making the 20-year old Kanehara and the 19-year old Wataya the youngest winners in the prize's history. Akutagawa Prize committee member Ryu Murakami particularly praised the "radical depiction of our time" in the winning works.