Even though most of them weren't accepted for publication, the very next year he won the Naoki literary prize, becoming the first non-Japanese to do so.
儘管大部分都被退稿，卻破天荒地在第二年以新人身分獲得日本直木大賞，成為這個日本大眾文學大獎的第一個非日本籍得主。