Hirokage Asakura (born 1984) is a Japanese novelist from Tokyo. A graduate of Tokyo Gakugei University, he received an honorable mention at the 7th Shosetsu Gendai Long Novel Newcomer Award in 2012 for "Hakkyu Afro" and made his literary debut the following year. His novel "Kaze ga Fuitari, Hana ga Chittari" won the 24th Shimasei Prize for Love Stories. A former high school baseball player, Asakura often writes about people confronting setbacks and starting over through sports and work. "Ametsuchi no Uta," modeled on the work of Hanshin Engei, the company responsible for maintaining the grounds at Hanshin Koshien Stadium, won the first Hyogo Book Grand Prize and follows a young man learning the demanding work carried out behind the scenes at one of Japan’s most famous baseball stadiums.
