Galina Dutkina studied Japanese language and history at the Institute of Asian and African Countries, Moscow State University, and received a Ph.D in Japanese literature from the Russian Academy of Sciences in 1992. After working as a reporter for a broadcasting company and as an editor at a publishing house, she launched her career as a freelance translator and writer. She has published a number of translations, including Teru Miyamoto's Autumn Brocade, Fumiko Enchi's The Waiting Years, Rampo Edogawa's short stories and Shusaku Endo's Silence. She is the author of the books: Mystery Moscow and Moscow Days.