The are presented every year by the Honkaku Mystery Writers Club of Japan. They honor the best in honkaku (i.e. authentic, orthodox) mystery fiction and critical works published in the previous year.
Honkaku Mystery Award for Best Fiction winners YearWinnerTitleAvailable in English Translation1 2001Jun Kurachi (ja) 2 2002Masaki Yamada32003Kiyoshi Kasai (ja) OtsuichiGoth: A Novel of Horror 4 2004Shogo Utano (ja) 5 2005Rintaro Norizuki 6 2006Keigo HigashinoThe Devotion of Suspect X 7 2007Shusuke Michio (ja)WHO'S THE SHADOW? | Japan Book Bank 8 2008Alice Arisugawa 9 2009Masaki Tsuji102010Shinzo Mitsuda (ja) Shogo Utano (ja) 11 2011Yutaka Maya (ja)122012Kyo Shirodaira (ja) Hiroko MinagawaThe Resurrection Fireplace 13 2013Seiichiro Oyama (ja) 14 2014Tomoki Morikawa (ja) 15 2015Yutaka Maya (ja) 16 2016Hiu Torikai (ja) 17 2017Kenji Takemoto (ja) 18 2018Masahiro Imamura (ja)Death Among the Undead 19 2019Amon Ibuki (ja)THE SWORD AND THE UMBRELLA | Japan Book Bank 20 2020Sako Aizawa (ja) 21 2021Tomoya Sakurada (ja)RETURN AS A CICADA | Japan Book Bank 222022Taku AshibeMURDER AT THE HOUSE OF OOMARI | Japan Book Bank Murder in the House of OmariHonobu YonezawaThe Samurai and the Prisoner 23 2023Tomoyuki Shirai (ja)242024Yugo Aosaki（ja）Jirai Glico（地雷グリコ）252025Yu Itsuki (ja)Kanojo ga Tantei de Nakereba（彼女が探偵でなければ） Nominees available in English translation 05 (2005) - Taku Ashibe, 10 (2010) - Yukito Ayatsuji,
Honkaku Mystery Award for Best Critical Work winners YearWinnerTitleAvailable in English Translation 1 2001Manji Gonda (ja)Hirohisa Shimpo (ja)(Dictionary of Japanese mystery writers) 2 2002Tadashi Wakashima (ja)(Critical essay) 3 2003Kiyoshi Kasai (ja)(Studies on Honkaku mystery) 4 2004Akiyuki Sengai (ja)(Studies on honkaku mystery) 5 2005Hajime Amagi (ja)(Theory and practice of Locked room mystery) 6 2006Kaoru Kitamura(Pastiche of Ellery Queen) 7 2007Masaaki Tatsumi (ja)(Studies on honkaku mystery) 8 2008Kentaro Komori (ja)(Studies on honkaku mystery) 9 2009Toshiaki Endo (ja)(Studies on honkaku mystery) 10 2010Motoi Taniguchi (ja)(Studies on Japanese heterodox literature) 11 2011Yusan Iiki (ja)(Studies on Ellery Queen) 12 2012Kiyoshi Kasai (ja)(Studies on mystery fiction) 13 2013Kenta Fukui (ja)(Studies on honkaku mystery) 14 2014Ryuzo Uchida (ja)(lit. Why Is Roger Ackroyd Killed?) 15 2015Aoi Shimotsuki(lit. The Definitive Guide to Agatha Christie) 16 2016Shinobu Asagihara (ja)(lit. The Guide to Complete Works of Mikihiko Renjo for Mystery Readers: Enlarged and Revised) 17 2017Masahiko Kikuni (ja)Yuka Kuniki (ja)(lit. The Might of Honkaku: A Shelf Detective's Mystery Book Guide) 18 2018Yusan Iiki (ja)(lit. Being Absorbed to Honkaku) 19 2019Shosaku Naka (ja)(lit. Ranpo Mystery Solving Chronicle) 20 2020Yasuo Nagayama (ja)(lit. The Era of Modernism Mystery) 21 2021Yusan Iiki (ja)(lit. The Locked Room of a Mathematician and a Philosopher) 22 2022Osamu Komori (ja)(Anthology of mystery stories) 23 2023Tatsumi Atsukawa (ja)(Reading Journal)242024Masaki KawadeMystery Library Investigation Sengo Honyaku Mystey Sousho Tanbou（ミステリ・ライブラリ・インヴェスティゲーション 戦後翻訳ミステリ叢書探訪）(Studies on translated mystery fiction)252025Rintaro NorizukiHirohisa Shimpo (ja)Shitaiokiba de Machiawase Shimpo Hirohisa Norizuki Rintaro Ofukushokan（死体置場で待ち合わせ 新保博久・法月綸太郎 往復書簡）(Epistolary exchange)
Honkaku Mystery Award for Lifetime Achievement winners The award is presented irregularly. 01 (2001) - Tetsuya Ayukawa (Honkaku mystery writer) 04 (2004) - Yasunobu Togawa (ja) (editor), Hideomi Uyama (ja) (editor) 08 (2008) - Fu Chin-chuan (Hiroshi Shimazaki) (ja) (editor)
Best Translated Honkaku Mystery of the Decade The Best Honkaku Mystery Novel translated into Japanese in the last decade.
Winners (in bold) and shortlisted titles.
2000–2009 Author Title Translator Orig. Pub. Year Region Jack Kerley The Death Collectors Kazuyo Misumi 2005 Sarah Caudwell The Sibyl in Her Grave Kazuyo Haneji 2000 Michael Connelly Blood Work Yoshimichi Furusawa (ja) 1998 Thomas H. Cook Instruments of Night Kiyoshi Muramatsu (ja) 1998 Jeffery Deaver The Cold Moon Makiko Ikeda (ja) 2006 Minette Walters The Shape of Snakes Hiroko Narikawa 2000
2010–2019 Author Title Translator Orig. Pub. Year Region Anthony Horowitz The Word Is Murder Ran Yamada 2017 Michel Bussi Black Water Lilies Atsushi Hiraoka (ja) 2011 Chan Ho-kei The Borrowed Kentaro Amano (ja) 2014 Frances Hardinge The Lie Tree Atsuko Kodama 2015 Kate Morton The Secret Keeper Junko Aoki (ja) 2012 Stuart Turton The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle Kazuyo Misumi 2018
See also Mystery Writers of Japan Award Japanese detective fiction Honkaku Mystery Best 10
References Honkaku Mystery Writers Club of Japan (2010), Honkaku Misuteri Taisho Zen Senpyo 2001-2010 (本格ミステリ大賞全選評 2001-2010), Kobunsha, Tokyo
External links Official English page