Hiromi Kawakami

• Name — Hiromi Kawakami • Born — 1 April 1958 • Birthplace — Tokyo, Japan • Occupation — Novelist • Period — 1990–present • Education — Ochanomizu Women's College • Genre — Fiction, poetry • Notable Works — Tread on a Snake, The Briefcase/Strange Weather in Tokyo • Awards — * Akutagawa Prize • Tanizaki Prize • Yomiuri Prize • Izumi Kyōka Prize for Literature • MEXT Art Encouragement Prize

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.

After graduating from college Kawakami began writing and editing for NW-SF, a Japanese science fiction magazine. 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 1994, at the age of 36, Kawakami debuted as a writer of literary fiction with a collection of short stories entitled Kamisama (God). 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 Suisei 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 Ōkina tori ni sarawarenai yō, 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.

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."

• Original publication — English publication • Title — Year — Title — Year • 神様 Kamisama — 1994 — Partial translation included in Read Real Japanese Fiction, trans. Michael Emmerich, Kodansha, — 2008 • 蛇を踏む Hebi wo fumu — 1996 — Record of a Night Too Brief, trans. Lucy North, Pushkin Press, — 2017 • 溺れる Oboreru — 2000 — N/A — N/A • センセイの鞄 Sensei no kaban — 2001 — The Briefcase, trans. Allison Markin Powell, Counterpoint, Strange Weather in Tokyo, trans. Allison Markin Powell, Counterpoint, — 2012 2017 • パレード Parēdo — 2002 — Parade: A Folktale, trans. Allison Markin Powell, Soft Skull Press, — 2019 • 龍宮 Ryūgū — 2002 — Dragon Palace, trans. Ted Goossen, Stone Bride Press, — 2023 • ニシノユキヒコの恋と冒険 Nishino Yukihiko no koi to bōken — 2003 — The Ten Loves of Nishino, trans. Allison Markin Powell, Europa Editions, — 2019 • 古道具 中野商店 Furudōgu Nakano shōten — 2005 — The Nakano Thrift Shop, trans. Allison Markin Powell, Europa Editions, — 2016 • 真鶴 Manazuru — 2006 — Manazuru trans. Michael Emmerich, Counterpoint, — 2010 • どこから行っても遠い町 Doko kara itte mo tōi machi — 2008 — Far From Everywhere, trans. Allison Markin Powell, Granta Books, Algonquin Books, — 2027 • パスタマシーンの幽霊 Pasutamashīn no yūrei — 2010 — N/A — N/A • 水声 Suisei — 2014 — N/A — N/A • 大きな鳥にさらわれないよう Ōkina tori ni sarawarenai yō — 2016 — Under the Eye of the Big Bird, trans. Asa Yoneda, Soft Skull Press, — 2024 • このあたりの人たち Kono atari no hitotachi — 2016 — People From My Neighborhood, trans. Ted Goossen, Soft Skull Press (publisher), — 2021 • 三度目の恋 Sandome no koi — 2020 — The Third Love, trans. Ted Goossen, Granta Books, — 2024

Hiromi Kawakami is recorded as novelist, writer and teacher. Kawakami received Akutagawa Prize, Murasaki Shikibu Prize, Bunkamura Les Deux Magots Literature Award, Women's Literature Prize, Sei Itō Award and Tanizaki Prize.