[3] With her short story[4] Hon no hanashi (本の話, A Tale of Books), Yuki (together with Tsuyoshi Kotani)[1] became the winner of the first postwar Akutagawa Prize in 1949.

[3][5] Hon no hanashi tells of a woman who tries to sell her deceased brother-in-law's books to pay for his widow's medical bills.

During this time, Yuki was incorrectly diagnosed with tuberculosis, which made her feel that her life had no purpose, until the diagnosis was corrected three laters.

[3] Yuki's favourite books included the Japanese translation of Life and Love of the Insect (1911) by Jean-Henri Fabre, as well as the thesis on Kansoku no riron (A Theory of Observation) by Hideki Yukawa.

[3] In 1955, Yuki's novel Jochūkko (女中ッ子, Au Pair) was made into a film by Tomotaka Tasaka.