How does/Can a foreign writer publish english books in Japan?

[umnut]

I've finished writing the first novel in a series. I've researched a relative variety of publishers and publishing methods, but when it comes to finding any answers regarding wether or not an european novelist can join a japanese contest or submit his work to a japanese publisher, information seems to be scarce. A few of the purposes that I'm pursuing by doing this include the attempts to make this series either a manga, anime etc. So, my questions are:

1) Can an european writer join a japanese contest, such as the Dengeki Novel Prize, or anything similar?

2) Are any japanese contests or publishers accepting english materials?

3) How many chances does a foreign writer have, compared to a japanese author, to have his work published in Japan and, subsequently, expanded into manga/anime etc.? Provided that the work is of relatively superior quality, compared to the generally accepted standards, in terms of writing, characters and story complexity.

 

[orisa]

I'm pretty sure all contests require Japanese material unless it's specifically an English novel contest. The novels themselves need to be printed in Japanese reading style (vertical, from right to left), unconventional for English writing.

As for your chances...foreigners will have hard time with most anything in Japan, writing included. But there have been successful foreigners who have established their places as writers in Japan (Frederic Boilet for example) so it's hard but definitely not impossible.

 

[alexsdu]

[MENTION=6561]orisa[/MENTION] Don't forget the webcomic Megatokyo.
Last I heard, which was 1-2 years ago, a Japanese publishing company contacted the author to make a Japanese version of his manga.

So [MENTION=23550]umnut[/MENTION], I suggest you just go ahead and give a try at it. Who knows, you might make it.