Spark

Tokunaga is a young comedian struggling to make a name for himself when he is taken under the wing of Kamiya, who is either a crazy genius or perhaps just crazy. Kamiya's indestructible confidence inspires Tokunaga, but it also makes him doubt the limits of his own talent, and dedication to Manzai comedy. Spark is a story about art and friendship, about countless bizarre drunken conversations and how far it's acceptable to go for a laugh. A novel about comedy that's as moving and thoughtful as ...

Hibana won the 153rd Akutagawa Prize. It received two live-action adaptations: a TV series which released on Netflix on June 3, 2016, and a film which released in Japan on November 23, 2017. The novel was published in English as Spark by Pushkin Press on March 5, 2020.