Japan International Literary Forum 2026｜2026年度「現代日本文学の翻訳・普及事業」

≪ Japan International Literary Forum 2026

Biographies of Panelists, Moderator, and Event Host

Yuzuki Asako: Born in Tokyo in 1981. She won the All Yomimono Award for New Writers for her story, Forget Me, Not Blue, which appeared in her debut, Shuuten No Anoko, published in 2010. In 2015, she won the Yamamoto Shugoro Prize for Nairu Paachi no Joshikai. Her 2017 novel BUTTER has been translated in more than 35 countries. The UK edition, translated by Polly Barton and published in 2024, received the Waterstones Book of the Year 2024 and The 2025 British Book Awards in the Debut Fiction Category. Her other works include Ranchi no Akko-chan, Ainiku Anta no Tame ja Nai, and more.

Otani Akira: Born in Tokyo in 1981. Her Novel The Night of Baba Yaga, published in 2020, was shortlisted for the 74th Mystery Writers of Japan Award in the Novel and Linked Short Story Collection Category. Its English edition, translated by Sam Bett and published in the United States in 2024, was selected by the Los Angeles Times as one of the “Five Mysteries to Read This Summer.” The U.K edition, released the same year, went on to win the Specsavers Debut Crime Novel Award at CrimeFest and the Crime Writers’ Association (CWA) Dagger for Best Translated Crime Novel in 2025—both unprecedented achievements for a Japanese author. In the autumn of the same year, it was also named a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award in the LGBTQ+ Mystery Category in the United States. Her other works include Kampeki janai, Atashitachi, Kimi no Rokugatsu wa Kooru, Taninya no Yuurei, and Chichi no Kaisuu, as well as the essay collections Karada wa Watashi no Nan nan da? and 40-sai dakedo Otona ni Naritai.

©Danny Gugger

Sam Bett: Born in 1986. Graduated from UMass-Amherst, majoring in English and Japanese Language & Literature. In 2015, Sam was awarded Grand Prize in the 2nd JLPP International Translation Competition. His translation work includes the Katanagatari series by NISIOISIN, The Flowers of Buffoonery and The Beggar Student by Osamu Dazai, and The Rope Artist by Fuminori Nakamura. His translation of Star by Yukio Mishima won the 2019-2020 Japan-US Friendship Commission Prize. He also co-translated Mieko Kawakami's works with David Boyd, including Breasts and Eggs, Heaven, and All the Lovers in the Night. Heaven was shortlisted for the 2022 International Booker Prize. His translation of The Night of Baba Yaga by Akira Otani won the 2025 Dagger Award for Crime Fiction in Translation. Alongside his translation work, he is a co-host of Us&Them, a Brooklyn-based reading series showcasing the work of writers who translate.

©新潮社

Konosu Yukiko: Born in Tokyo, Yukiko Konosu is a literary translator and critic. She received the Newcomer Prize of the BABEL International Translation Award in 1995 and the Mystery Category Award in 1998 for her translation of The Chatham School Affair by Thomas H. Cook. Her major works include What is Translation?, Introduction to Literary Translation, Literature as Prophecy, Narrating Mortality: Why We Write Novels, and Why Japanese Fiction Captivates the English-Speaking World, among many others. She has also translated numerous books into Japanese, including J. M. Coetzee's Disgrace; Margaret Atwood’s The Testaments and The Blind Assassin; Amanda Gorman’s The Hill We Climb; and Claire Keegan's Small Things Like These and Foster. She has translated many classics as well, such as Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights and Virginia Woolf's To the Lighthouse. She has taught translation at universities for many years and currently serves as an executive director of the Japan Writers Association and a director of Setagaya Cultural Foundation.

©Keiichi SUTO

Kirino Natsuo: Born in Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture. She received numerous literary awards, including the 51st Mystery Writers of Japan Award for OUT (1998); the 121st Naoki Prize for Yawarakana Hoho (1999); the 31st Izumi Kyoka Literary Award for Grotesque (2003); the 64th Mainichi Art Award and the 57th Yoshikawa Eiji Prize for Literature for Swallows (2023). Many of her works have been translated into English, French, Italian, German, Indonesian, and other languages, and have been adapted into films and television dramas. She was awarded the Medal with Purple Ribbon in the autumn of 2015. Internationally acclaimed, she is regarded as one of the leading figures in contemporary Japanese literature. She currently serves as the 18th President of the Japan P.E.N. Club.

Ogawa Satoshi: Born in 1986 in Chiba City. He made his debut by winning the 3rd Hayakawa SF Contest Grand Prize in 2015 with Yuutoronika no Kochiragawa. He subsequently received the 38th Japan SF Grand Prize and the 31st Yamamoto Shugoro Prize in 2017 for Game no Ookoku. In 2022, he won the 13th Yamada Futaro Prize for Chizu to Kobushi, and the following year received the 168th Naoki Prize for the same work. His other works include Kimi no Quiz and Kasei no Joou.

Ken Mori: Ken Mori is the President of Tuttle-Mori Agency. He works in international publishing, focusing on literary works, nonfiction, manga, and children’s books, connecting Japanese and global markets through publishing translations. He also oversees IP-driven brand and merchandising projects, including Moomin, Macmillan’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, and Elmer the Patchwork Elephant, expanding the reach of beloved works beyond books.

Arai Hiroshi: Born in 1968. After graduating from Waseda University, he joined Bungeishunju Ltd. and worked as a literary editor, overseeing the work of numerous authors. He was later transferred to the rights management division, where he handled the licensing of literary works abroad. He has been involved in bringing many titles into English, including Murata Sayaka’s Convenience Store Woman and Yokoyama Hideo’s Six Four. He is currently entrusted by the family of the late Matsumoto Seicho to manage the overseas translation rights to Matsumoto’s works, promoting their introduction to readers worldwide. He currently serves as Director of the Rights Department at Bungeishunju Ltd. and as a copyright committee member for both the Japan Book Publishers Association and the Japan Magazine Publishers Association.

Polly Barton: Polly Barton is a Japanese-English translator based in the UK. She was the grand prize winner of the first JLPP International Translation Competition in 2012. Her full-length translations include So We Look to the Sky by Misumi Kubo, Spring Garden by Tomoka Shibasaki, and There's No Such Thing as an Easy Job by Kikuko Tsumura. Her translation of Where the Wild Ladies Are by Aoko Matsuda won the 2021 World Fantasy Award for Best Short Story Collection, and her translation of Mild Vertigo by Mieko Kanai was awarded a 2023-2024 Lindsley and Masao Miyoshi Translation Prize. Fifty Sounds, her nonfiction book about learning Japanese, was released by Fitzcarraldo Editions in 2021. Her translation of Yuzuki Asako’s novel BUTTER became a bestselling novel in the UK, receiving the Waterstones Book of the Year 2024 and the Debut Fiction Award at the British Book Awards 2025.

Yonekura Kishiko: Born in Yokohama. After graduating from the School of Humanities at Kwansei Gakuin University, she worked for three years as an announcer at Okayama Broadcasting before pursuing a career as an actress. She trained at the Bungakuza Acting Institute and the Subaru Theater School, and has been a member of Theatre Company Subaru since 1996. Her major stage credits include A Christmas Carol, Marvin’s Room, and Oya no Kao ga Mitai (all with Theatre Company Subaru); Kashinokizaka Yon Shimai (Natsunokawa Project); and Uso (Haiyuza Theatre production). Her television appearances include the NHK dramas including The Day When Taiga Drama was Born, Clouds Above the Hill, and Downtown Bobsleigh. She has also done voice work for Detective Conan, Dreamgirls, The Good Wife, among others.