★ A work by Haneko Takayama, winner of the 163rd Akutagawa Prize. In a society divided into two classes—“Laborers” and “Performers”—the protagonist must choose between survival and meaning.
★ A stray dog, a warning of unrest, a single night—an Akutagawa-winning author blends sci-fi and dystopian allegory into a thought-provoking tale.
★ Takayama, a graduate of Tama Art University's Japanese Painting program, brings a visual artist's eye to her writing. Her work has been shortlisted for the Japan SF Award. Her fine arts background makes her depictions of environment and atmosphere exceptionally vivid.

In this world, people are forced to choose between two ways of life: become a “Laborer”—permitted to work for daily wages—or become a “Performer”—required to devote themselves solely to cultural pursuits.
The protagonist is a Laborer. One day, while working at a drive-in restaurant, a police detective arrives with a warning: “There's been a threat of unrest.” The date of the threat coincides with a gathering of “Friends,” a mutual support group for Performers. A stray dog suddenly in need of care, a warning of unrest, a late-night celebration—these threads intertwine. Where will they lead?

Haneko Takayama
Born in Toyama Prefecture in 1975. Graduated from Tama Art University with a degree in Japanese Painting. She worked as an ordinary office worker until the age of 30, when she began writing fiction.
In 2009, she made her literary debut when her sci-fi short story Udon Fox won an honorable mention at the inaugural Sogen SF Short Story Prize. In 2016, she received the 2nd Hayashi Fumiko Literary Prize for The Island Next to the Sun. She was twice nominated for the Akutagawa Prize—for The Place That Has Passed and Come, People, Hear Me—before winning the 163rd Akutagawa Prize in 2020 for The Horse of Shuri.
Her work has also been shortlisted for the 36th Japan SF Award. Her background in fine arts gives her writing a distinctive visual quality—she places great emphasis on detailed depictions of environments and atmospheres, and skillfully weaves science fiction elements into settings grounded in historical fact or contemporary reality. Critics have called her "an extraordinary writer who transcends genre boundaries."

Major Works:
Udon Fox (2009), The Island Next to the Sun (2016), Objectum (2018), The Place I Was (2019), The Horse of Shuri (2020), Drive-In, Midnight (2023)