From her distinctive style to her choice of topics, Mieko Kawakami is both a writer's writer and an entertainer, a thinker and constantly evolving stylist who manages to be highly readable and immensely popular.

For any fan of speculative fiction, Hybrid Child presents a sprawling, imaginative excursion into the unknown that also predicts current familiar thematic questionings on gender politics or weaponized robots.

In the midst of Showa Era (1926-89) Japan, with patriarchy dominating and imperialism rising, a young female playwright, Fumiko Enchi (1905-86), started a literary career that would eventually lead her to become a passionate advocate for female empowerment, while casting a critical, penetrating eye ...

According to author and translator Adam L. Kern, there's a pervasive myth that haiku is only nature poetry, that it is always serious and connected to Zen, that there are hardly any women haiku poets. But haiku covers far greater ground.

Summer is a time for dancing. Across the country there are countless local matsuri (festivals) in which a regionally specific odori (dance) is the main attraction and, of course, there are the many outdoor music festivals that allow people to let loose and move. The ...

Sabina Mahmood is an associate professor and medical educator at Okayama University, and mentors incoming International Baccalaureate graduates and foreign students at the university.

Love her or hate her — and her work tends to provoke strong passions in critics and fans alike — Hiromi Ito is a defining force in Japan's literary world.

Choreographer Philippe Decoufle describes his new circus-inspired show, "Nouvelles Pieces Courtes" ("New Short Pieces"), as a "sort of visual and physical mind game." That's not surprising as the 56-year-old Frenchman has fused dance with dizzying aerial choreography, sly acrobatics and the clever use of video ...

From Haruki Murakami to Natsume Soseki, "The Penguin Book of Japanese Short Stories" serves up a feast of literature, a smorgasbord of over 30 widely varied modern Japanese writers.

Hailed as a true poet and lauded for her humanistic perspective in depicting the seedy underside of the Meiji Restoration, the test of time puts paid to Ichiyo Higuchi's (1872-96) lasting influence.