Park Kyungni's "Land" Japanese Complete Translation Wins Mainichi Publishing Culture Award

"A Work That Has Influenced Contemporary Authors Such as Han Kang"
"The Perspective of Reflecting on Modern and Contemporary History from the Colonial Period Is Valuable"

The Japanese complete translation of "Land," the epic novel written by Park Kyungni, has been selected as the winner in the Planning category at the 79th Mainichi Publishing Culture Awards, according to a report by Japan's Mainichi Shimbun on November 3, 2025.

The Japanese complete translation of "Land" was published by Kuon Publishing, a Japanese publisher specializing in Korean literature. The complete series consists of 20 volumes, with the final volume released in September of last year.

Land published in Japan. Kuon Publishing Instagram

Kyoko Nakajima, a Japanese writer who participated in the judging, described "Land" as an epic novel written by Korean female author Park Kyungni over a span of 25 years, from 1969 to 1994. She further noted, "It is regarded as a work that has influenced contemporary authors such as Han Kang," adding, "The perspective of reflecting on modern and contemporary history from the colonial period is also valuable. The completion of the full translation is a significant achievement for the publishing industry."

Regarding the Japanese complete translation of "Land," she explained, "This was a decade-long project undertaken by Kuon Publishing, which has introduced high-quality modern literary works to Japan."

The Mainichi Publishing Culture Awards honor five books in total, including awards in four categories-planning (such as collected works and dictionaries), literature and the arts, humanities and social sciences, and natural sciences-along with a special award. This year's winners were selected from 329 books published in the past year as of August.

Prior to this, on November 1, the Azusakai Publishing Association announced that Kuon Publishing would receive the Newspaper Academic and Cultural Award at the 41st Azusakai Publishing Culture Awards and the 22nd Newspaper Academic and Cultural Awards.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.