It was founded in 2004 following the 100th anniversary celebration commemorating of the birth of Swedish Nobel Prize winner Harry Martinson.
[citation needed] The award was initially (the first five prizes) presented in cooperation with the European Institute of Japanese Studies (EIJS) at the Stockholm School of Economics, the spa hotel Yasuragi, Judiska Teatern (The Jewish Theater), Östasieninstitutet (East Asia Institute) and Nyteboden.
In this collection is also included the first 29 poems of his work Aniara, "The Song about Doris and Mima".
The atomic bombs in Japan, followed by the construction of the world's first H-bomb in 1953, had a significant impact on Martinson's writing, which is reflected in Aniara.
The prize focuses on East Asian poets, writing in Chinese, Korean, or Japanese, not only because of Martinson's interest in East Asian literature, but also because the initiators of the prize believe poetry written in these languages deserves better recognition.