is a Japanese writer, known for her off-beat fiction, poetry, and literary criticism. She has won numerous Japanese literary awards, including the Akutagawa Prize, the Tanizaki Prize, the Yomiuri Prize, and the Izumi Kyōka Prize for Literature. Her work has been adapted for film and has been translated into more than 15 languages.
Early life and education
Kawakami was born in 1958 in Tokyo. She grew up in the Takaido neighborhood of Suginami City in Tokyo Prefecture, Kanto Region. She graduated from Ochanomizu Women's College in 1980. Her first short story, "Sho-shimoku" ("Diptera"), appeared in NW-SF in 1980.
She also taught science in a middle school and high school, but became a housewife when her husband had to relocate for work. In 1996 Hebi wo fumi (Tread on a Snake) won the Akutagawa Prize, one of Japan's most prestigious literary awards. It was later translated into English under the title Record of a Night Too Brief. She received the Tanizaki Prize in 2001 for her novel Sensei no kaban (The Briefcase or Strange Weather in Tokyo), a love story about a friendship and romance between a woman in her thirties and her former teacher, a man in his seventies. After the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, Kawakami rewrote her debut short story "Kamisama" ("God"), keeping the original plot but incorporating the events of Fukushima into the story.
In 2014 the film Nishino Yukihiko no Koi to Bōken, based on Kawakami's 2003 novel of the same name and starring Yutaka Takenouchi and Machiko Ono, was released nationwide in Japan. That same year Kawakami's novel was published by Bungeishunjū. Suisei won the 66th Yomiuri Prize in 2015, with selection committee member Yōko Ogawa praising the book for expanding the horizon of literature. In 2016 Kawakami's book ', a collection of 14 short stories published by Kodansha, won the 44th Izumi Kyōka Prize for Literature. In 2025, Under the Eye of the Big Bird, Asa Yoneda's English translation of this collection, was shortlisted for the International Booker Prize.
Writing style
Kawakami's work explores emotional ambiguity by describing the intimate details of everyday social interactions. Many of her stories incorporate elements of fantasy and magical realism. Her writing has drawn comparisons to Lewis Carroll and Banana Yoshimoto, and she has cited Gabriel García Márquez and J. G. Ballard as influences. Many of her short stories, novel extracts, and essays have been translated into English, including "God Bless You" ("Kamisama"), "The Moon and the Batteries" (extract from Sensei no kaban), "Mogera Wogura", "Blue Moon", "The Ten Loves of Nishino", and "People in My Neighborhood."
Awards and honors
- 1996 Akutagawa Prize for 蛇を踏む - Hebi wo fumu (A Snake Stepped On)
- 2000 Itō Sei Literature Prize and Woman Writer's Prize for 溺レる - Oboreru (Drowning)
- 2001 Tanizaki Prize for センセイの鞄 - Sensei no kaban (The Briefcase / Strange Weather in Tokyo)
- 2012 Man Asian Literary Prize shortlist for センセイの鞄 - Sensei no kaban (The Briefcase / Strange Weather in Tokyo)
- 2014 Independent Foreign Fiction Prize shortlist for センセイの鞄 - Sensei no kaban (The Briefcase / Strange Weather in Tokyo)
- 2015 66th Yomiuri Prize for 水声 - Suisei
- 2016 44th Izumi Kyōka Prize for Literature for 大きな鳥にさらわれないよう - Ōkina tori sarawarenai yō (Under the Eye of the Big Bird)
- 2019 Medal with Purple Ribbon
- 2025 International Booker Prize shortlist for 大きな鳥にさらわれないよう - Ōkina tori sarawarenai yō (Under the Eye of the Big Bird)
Film adaptation
- 2014 Nishino Yukihiko no Koi to Bōken
Selected works
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! colspan="2"|Original publication
! colspan="2"|English publication
|-
! Title
! Year
! Title
! Year
|-
| <br>Kamisama
| 1994
| Partial translation included in Read Real Japanese Fiction, trans. Michael Emmerich, Kodansha,
| 2008
|-
| <br>Hebi wo fumu
| 1996
| Record of a Night Too Brief, trans. Lucy North, Pushkin Press,
| 2017
|-
| <br>Oboreru
| 2000
| N/A
| N/A
|-
| <br>Sensei no kaban
| 2001
| The Briefcase, trans. Allison Markin Powell, Counterpoint, <br>Strange Weather in Tokyo, trans. Allison Markin Powell, Counterpoint,
| 2012<br>2017
|-
| <br>Parēdo
| 2002
| Parade: A Folktale, trans. Allison Markin Powell, Soft Skull Press,
| 2019
|-
| <br>Ryūgū
| 2002
| Dragon Palace, trans. Ted Goossen, Stone Bride Press,
| 2023
|-
| <br>Nishino Yukihiko no koi to bōken
| 2003
| The Ten Loves of Nishino, trans. Allison Markin Powell, Europa Editions,
| 2019
|-
| <br>Furudōgu Nakano shōten
| 2005
| The Nakano Thrift Shop, trans. Allison Markin Powell, Europa Editions,
| 2016
|-
| <br>Manazuru
| 2006
| Manazuru trans. Michael Emmerich, Counterpoint,
| 2010
|-
| <br>Pasutamashīn no yūrei
| 2010
| N/A
| N/A
|-
| <br>Suisei
| 2014
| N/A
| N/A
|-
| <br>Ōkina tori ni sarawarenai yō
| 2016
| Under the Eye of the Big Bird, trans. Asa Yoneda, Soft Skull Press,
| 2024
|-
| <br>Kono atari no hitotachi
| 2016
| People From My Neighborhood, trans. Ted Goossen, Soft Skull Press (publisher),
| 2021
|-
| <br>Sandome no koi
| 2020
| The Third Love, trans. Ted Goossen, Granta Books,
| 2024
|}
References
External links
- https://web.archive.org/web/20070927045659/http://www.parisreview.com/viewmedia.php/prmMID/5482
- https://thegodofbears.blogspot.com/2008/10/god-of-bears.html
- Hiromi Kawakami at J'Lit Books from Japan
- Synopsis of Manazuru at JLPP (Japanese Literature Publishing Project)
- Review of "Strange Weather in Tokyo", Booklover Book Reviews (English)