First ever to win both the Bookstore Award and the Naoki Award simultaneously
The End and Beginning of "The Bee and the Thunder," and the Untold Stories

Riku Onda's "The Bee and Thunder" received enthusiastic attention in both Korea and Japan in 2017, becoming the first Japanese literary work to win both the Naoki Prize and the Booksellers' Grand Prize.
This work, which vividly depicts the story of musicians struggling to spread their music to the world through a competition where pure passion and cold business coexist, has been called “the pinnacle of Onda Riku literature,” and a spin-off novel collection has been published.
The new work, 『Festival and Premonition』, which comes four and a half years after 『Bees and Thunder』, contains six intimate stories of the main characters and those around them that were not covered in the previous work.


The three contestants who left the fierce competition on stage behind and embarked on a prize-winners' tour together ("Festival and Grave Visiting"), the relationship between Masaru and his teacher Nathaniel, who heated up the competition with their overwhelming skills and star power ("Harp and Panflute"), the sad yet beautiful story of the birth of the competition assignment piece [Spring and Sura] that left a deep impression in the previous work ("Lyrics and Swing"), and the intense first meeting moment between legendary musician Hoffmann and genius boy Jin Kazama ("Legend and Premonition").
The past and present of young people who have taken great strides as 'professional musicians', clashing and sometimes inspiring each other to gain recognition for their music in Yoshigae, and the musicians who surround them, are colorfully displayed.

The girl chuckled and pointed towards the crowd.
“Look, the artistic directors of the Bayern and Lyon orchestras are here.
He said he happened to stop by because there was a concert in Munich.
"It's not about losing, it's about getting what you want. Why not go and ask them if they'd be willing to be your regular concert soloists? How about a set of two of Munich's top performers, one per day?"
“What? A set with you?”
Nathaniel frowned.
The girl snorted.
“There’s nothing I can do.
“They say there is no winner, so we should at least sell the set.”
Nathaniel smiled faintly.
Because she said in the same voice as Friedrich Hauser, 'There is no winner.'
“Okay, shall we go?”
The girl clenched her fist.
--- p.56, from “The Lion and the Peony”

Of course, there was no way the hops would be open at this time.
All that meets the eye, let alone the fruit, is ridges, ridges, ridges.
A barren land spreads out.
However, there were thin sticks neatly stuck in this area.
“I see.
“Is this the scenery he was seeing?”
A strong wind blew from the other side.
The stick stuck in the ridge trembled.
The wind was still cold, but there was a faint scent of spring somewhere.
Hishinuma took a deep breath of the scent.
Suddenly, a phrase from “Spring and Water” came to mind again.
(True language is not here, and Asura's tears wet the ground)
Oh, there you are.
Somewhere here, I hear your voice.
--- p.83~84, from “Lyrics and Swing”

The contrabass player looked at Masaru and smiled as he left Nathaniel's side.
“Hey, you’re not the one who’s been hiding your son, are you?”
Whisper playfully.
Then Nathaniel answered with a serious expression.
“This kid is a star.”
The contrabass player looked between Nathaniel and Masaru's faces for a moment in bewilderment, but then waved and left.
Masaru was also confused.
“?” Masaru looked at Nathaniel, and Nathaniel spoke again.
“You are a star.”
Masaru blinked his eyes in shock.
A star? Me?
Nathaniel suddenly spoke with a thoughtful expression.
“Your music is loud.
It also contains a huge amount of information, and is surprisingly complex and multifaceted.
--- p.104, from “Harp and Panflute”

Light is pouring down.
There was a little boy in that light.
He is playing the piano with hard, youthful movements.
Suddenly, it seemed as if the dream he had this morning was coming back to life inside him.
Yes, wasn't it in my dream that I saw this sight?
The child who had been playing the piano for a while suddenly stopped playing and turned around, perhaps seeing a shadow of a person on the piano.
A bewildered expression, a small face.
Big, wide-open eyes.
Absolutely beautiful, enveloped in light… … .
He felt his heart flutter.
A mysterious thrill, almost like emotion, wells up.
"hi?"
He spoke like that and slowly approached the child.
The child got down from the chair gently and looked at me quietly.

--- p.147~148, from “Legends and Premonitions”