Shōichi Nejime (born 1948) is a Japanese poet and novelist. He was born into a family that operated a dried-goods shop in Koenji, Tokyo, and later attended Aoyama Gakuin University. His first poetry collection, "Fu," received the H Prize in 1981 and drew attention for its use of everyday language and physical sensation. He has since written poetry, fiction, children’s literature, picture books, and essays. His best-known work, "Kōenji Junjō Shōtengai," received the Naoki Prize in 1989. This cycle of six stories is set in a shopping street near Koenji Station during the late 1950s and early 1960s. Through the eyes of Shōichi, the only son of a dried-goods merchant known for its freshly shaved bonito flakes, the book portrays his parents and grandmother at work, the fishmongers and cosmetics sellers nearby, and the boy’s uncertainty as he helps with the family business and enters adolescence.
