For the past several years, the Japanese public has been wringing its hands over the new phenomenon of 13- and 14-year-old killers. However, an evocative portrayal of a group of ordinary, young boys, "4teen," by Ira Ishida, was selected as cowinner of this year's Naoki Prize, showering money and fame on the rising author, who was featured on the cover of Aera earlier this month.

Ishida, 43, made his literary debut in 1997 with "Ikebukuro West Gate Park," a story of youth and street violence set in Tokyo. But Ishida now deplores the public's preoccupation with teen crime and is calling on people to put more faith in today's youths.

In an interview in All Yomimono (September 2003), Ishida recalls being a voracious reader from childhood and dreaming of becoming a writer. After graduating from college, however, he spent two or three years doing various part-time jobs, reading, and listening to music. At 25, he finally took a regular job at an ad production company but continued to move from one company to the next, until he became a freelance copywriter.