2021 Seiun Awards Winners

SF60, the 60th Nihon SF Taikai convention held in Japan, has announced the winners for the 2021 Seiun Awards (the Japanese equivalent of the Hugo Awards), honoring the best original and translated works published last year in Japan.

Best Translated Novel

• WINNER: The Dark Forest, Cixin Liu, translated by Nozomi Ohomori, Touya Tachihara, Kaori Uehara & Ko Tomari (Hayakawa)

• All the Birds in the Sky, Charlie Jane Anders, translated by Izumi Ichida (Tokyo Sogensha)
• The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter, Theodora Goss, translated by Jun Suzuki, Fumiyo Harashima, Mayumi Ohtani & Izumi Ichida (Hayakawa)
• The Fifth Season, N.K. Jemisin, translated by Kazuko Onoda (Tokyo Sogensha)
• The Calculating Stars, Mary Robinette Kowal, translated by Akinobu Sakai (Hayakawa)
• Ninefox Gambit, Yoon Ha Lee, translated by Hideko Akao (Tokyo Sogensha)
• The Psychology of Time Travel, Kate Mascarenhas, translated by Ken Mogi (Tokyo Sogensha)
• Embers of War, Gareth L. Powell, translated by Kazuyo Misumi (Tokyo Sogensha)
• Avengers of the Moon, Allen Steele, translated by Tohru Nakamura (Tokyo Sogensha)

Best Translated Story

• WINNER: “Zima Blue”, Alastair Reynolds, translated by Naoaya Nakahara (Best SF of the 2000s)

• “Our Science Fiction World”, Baoshu, translated by Kousaku Ai (SF Magazine 12/20)
• “This is Not the Way Home”, Greg Egan, translated by Makoto Yamagishi (SF Magazine 2/20)
• “About My Space Hero”, Cho-yeop Kim, translated by Bang-hwa Kan (If We Cannot Move at the Speed of Light)
• “If We Cannot Move at the Speed of Light”, Cho-yeop Kim, translated by Ji-young Yoon (If We Cannot Move at the Speed of Light)
• “The Weight of Memories”, Cixin Liu, translated by Ko Tomari (SF Magazine 12/20)
• “The Snow of Jinyang”, Zhang Ran, translated by Naoya Nakahara (Broken Stars: Contemporary Chinese Science Fiction in Translation)
• “My Crappy Autumn”, Nitay Peretz, translated by Masami Uekusa (Zion’s Fiction: A Treasury of Israeli Speculative Literature)
• “The Syllables of Silence”, Zhou Wen, translated by Masami Asada (The Stairway of the Time)

Best Japanese Novel

• WINNER: Military Logistics of Star System Izumo (9 volumes), Jouji Hayashi (Hayakawa)

• One More Nuke, Taiyo Fuji (Shinchosha)
• I Didn’t Know the End, Taku Mayumura (Kodansha)
• Titan, Mado Nozaki (Kodansha)
• The Irregular at Magic High School (32 volumes), Tsutomu Satō (Kadokawa)
• Ode to Joy (Museum Planet vol.3), Hiroe Suga (Hayakawa)
• The Horse of Shuri, Haneko Takayama (Shinchosha)
• The Complete Manual of How to Get One Billion Yen by Artificial Intelligence, Jinzou Takeda (Hayakawa)
• Rail Wars! (20 volumes), Takumi Toyoda (Sohgeisha & Jitsugyononihonsha)

Best Japanese Story (tie)

• WINNER: “Orbital Christmas”, Haruna Ikezawa (Nova Summer ’21)
• WINNER: “American Buddha”, Katsuie Shibata (American Buddha)

• “Clearing the Galaxy”, Taiyo Fuji (Legend of the Galactic Heroes: Other Stories I)
• “Shirahagi Family’s Dining with Visions”, Ren Hanna (SF Magazine 2/20)
• “The Emperor in Wasserfall Drache”, Issui Ogawa (Legend of the Galactic Heroes: Other Stories I)
• “Gekiga: Sekai-kei”, Renji Ohki (The Critical Point of Japanese Science Fiction: Love)
• “Kluntsman’s Hidden Buddha”, Katsuie Shibata (SF Magazine 10/20)
• “Fountain of Books, Book Fountain”, Fumio Takano (SF Magazine 2/20)
• “Celestial Stage”, Yuya Takashima (Legend of the Galactic Heroes: Other Stories I)

There are also nominees in Multimedia, Comic, Artist, Non-Fiction, and “Free” (other) categories. The awards will be presented at SF60, the 60th Japan SF Convention, scheduled for August 21-22, 2021 in Takamatsu city, Kagawa prefecture.

For more information, including a complete list of winners (in Japanese), see the SFFAN’s website.

[Thanks to Terrie Hashimoto for the story and translations.]