Against the global backdrop of book publishing compared to a low-growth business, five distinguished speakers representing the Japanese market will discuss their experiences including opportunities available for foreign authors .The evening will probe tradition, distribution, pitching to publishers and current trends as Japanese society changes.

In alphabetical order

Satoshi  Gunji, Senior Managing Director of Japan P.E.N. Club, Lecturer of Kobe City University of Foreign Studies, Executive Editorial Advisor of KADOKAWA CORPORATION.

Roland Kelts is an award-winning journalist, author, editor and scholar. He is best known for his highly acclaimed bestseller, Japanamerica: How Japanese Pop Culture has Invaded the US. He writes for numerous publications in Japan, the US and Europe, and has been a contributing editor to the literary journal Monkey: New Writing from Japan since its inception in 2010. He has worked as an author, editor and consultant for publishers in Japan, the UK and the US for over twenty years and was a Nieman Fellow in Journalism at Harvard in 2017.

Tetsuya Sugahara, Department Manager, Academic & Non-Fiction Editorial Department, Culture & Lifestyle Division, KADOKAWA CORPORATION. Has been involved in editing translated books for over 20 years together with Gunji. 

Robert Whiting is a Tokyo-based writer who had authored many critically acclaimed books. He is the author of the best-selling You Gotta Have Wa, named by Esquire Magazine as one of its “best baseball books ever written”; Tokyo Underworld; and Tokyo Junkie. Whiting was a recipient of the 2023 Henry Chadwick Award, which honors those who write about baseball. He first arrived in Tokyo in 1962 and has lived here for much of the time since then.

Miko Yamanouchi is President of Japan UNI Agency, Inc (JUA). Established in 1967, JUA is a literary agency which represents major publishers and literary agencies such as HarperCollins, Simon & Schusters and PRH in Japan, and also agents foreign translation rights to Japanese books overseas. 

Doors open at 5:45 pm with a casual “meet the author/cocktail time” from 6:00 pm. Dinner will be served from 6:30 pm and the talk begins at 7:15 pm.

The menu is Coleslaw Salad with Soft Salami Sausage, Fried White Fish Tartar Sauce, Bread, Today’s Dessert, Coffee/Tea and One beverage of choice (orange juice, oolong tea, red or white wine, beer). A vegetarian option is available. Please inform the club of food restrictions when reserving. Price: 3,000 yen for members, 4,000 yen for non-members.

The member reservation deadline is 2 pm December 18, non-members must reserve and pay by Friday, December 13, 2024.

Online attendance (Zoom) is available by reservation at 550 yen per person.

No cancellations after Sunday, December 15.

(The talk will be in English)


Library, Archives & Workroom Committee