Novelist Ryo Asai

Novels are like rain. Before you know it, they're wet and affecting you.

Novelist Ryo Asai

■ Profile
Novelist. Born in Gifu Prefecture in 1989. Made his debut in 2009 with "Kirishima, Bukatsu Yamerutteyo" (I'm Quitting the Club), which won the 22nd Subaru Novel Prize for Newcomers. In 2013, he won the 148th Naoki Prize for "Nanimono" (Who Is This?), in 2014 he won the 29th Tsubota Joji Literary Prize for "Sekai Chizu no Sakki" (Draft of the World Map), and in 2021 he won the 34th Shibata Renzaburo Prize for "Seigo" (Right Desire). His latest book, "Seikenki" (Record of Reproduction), was selected as the number one Kinobes! 2025 award.

　Novels reach the heart like "rain." Before you know it, they're wet and affecting you. Ryo Asai says that novels have the ability to reach out to you precisely because they don't know their source. He continues to create new stories by digging up ideas stored inside himself. We spoke to him about his motivation for writing.

◾️What is the appeal of the story?

　One of the attractions of stories is that they can bring together people with different beliefs. In reality, society and information are increasingly divided, making dialogue difficult, but in novels, people with completely different values ​​can be placed on the same level. Also, since one side's opinion alone becomes like a slogan, my works often feature dialogues between polar opposites. Both are parts of myself, but by confining people with different beliefs within the closed room of a story, unexpected words can emerge.

　I also think that one of the things stories can do is deliver words as "rain" rather than "water from a hose." You hold a hose yourself and can easily control its trajectory, so you can aim and shoot out water with force. But because you can see the trajectory of the water so well, it's also possible to avoid it and its reach is limited. Rain, on the other hand, can have an impact over a wide area without revealing its source. If we apply this to novels, rather than delivering a book that reveals the author's concerns and themes, by presenting them completely hidden within a story, it has the potential to reach people who had no interest in the theme to begin with, or even those who have had a negative reaction to it. I think this is a major attraction.

What motivates you to write novels?

　I think writing novels in this digital age is something of a "habit." Novels take a long time to write, and you can only publish one or two per year. So, in my case, my motivation for writing comes more from an experimental feeling of "I wonder what would happen if I wrote something like this," rather than rational motivation.

　Also, new news comes out every day, and times and situations are constantly changing. We live in a world where something that seems like a circle today can become a square tomorrow, and a triangle the day after. Even in such a situation, if there is something that makes you think, "I can't stop thinking about this 'circle,'" that obsession itself becomes motivation. It's like when you can't get this 'circle' out of your head in a day full of change, and that means you have to write about it.

◾️How do you shape your ideas?

　I feel like the thoughts I have in my everyday life naturally accumulate inside me, and then they become novels, so there's no moment when I say, "Okay, I'm going to give form to my ideas." It's like a tank of thoughts gradually builds up in my everyday life, and I have to think about how to turn it into a novel. I guess it's similar to the process of carving a wooden bear out of a log. It's like digging out a work from within myself.

■Message to students

　Recently, I've often thought that the senses I held dear as a student, such as "I want to be like this at this age" or "I shouldn't do this because it's embarrassing," are completely out of sync with who I am now. Society is changing relentlessly, and so are we ourselves. Values ​​and common sense are constantly changing irresponsibly, so I hope that in a good way, we won't cling too much to who we are now, and that we won't take what we now perceive as "embarrassing" too seriously.

Student Newspaper April 2025 Issue, Waseda University, 4th year student, Nishimura Natsu

Toyo University third-year student Ota Fuka / Waseda University fourth-year student Nishimura Natsu / Keio University third-year student Matsuzaka Yusaki / Josai International University first-year student Watanabe Yurie / N High School second-year student Hattori Masamasa / Toyo University second-year student Koshiyama Rinno / Sophia University third-year student Yoshikawa Minami / Rikkyo University fourth-year student Ogata Narina / Sophia University first-year student Zhang Yina / Nihon University fourth-year student Suzuki Junki