IN-PERSON EVENT - The Japan Society Book Club: Sisters in Yellow by Mieko Kawakami

Date
Monday 8 December 2025
Time
7.00pm

Venue
The Japan Society
13 / 14 Cornwall Terrace
London NW1 4QP

Booking Details
Free for members of The Japan Society

Book available from Spring 2025
Japanese version available here

Please help us to keep this event free and open to all! The Japan Society is a charity and its activities are made possible thanks to the support of its members. If you are planning to attend this event and are not a member (as an individual or through your employer), please consider becoming a member or making a donation if you can - the recommended donation is £5. Thank you!

In Sisters in Yellow, Hana, now in her forties, reflects on her youth in Tokyo’s “Yellow House” during the 1990s. As a teenager, she fled a troubled home to live with her mother's friend, Kimiko, and they opened a bar. Joined by Ran and Momoko, they formed a surrogate family. After a fire and mounting financial struggles, their lives took darker turns. Decades later, an arrest forces Hana to confront her past, revisiting themes of survival, crime, and the complexities of family formed under hardship, while examining the bonds and emotional costs of their relationships.

Mieko Kawakami (1976-) is a Japanese writer from Osaka. She began her career as a singer-songwriter before transitioning to writing. Her literary debut came in 2006 with My Ego, My Teeth, and the World . She won the Akutagawa Prize in 2008 for Breasts and Eggs, which was later expanded into a full-length novel in 2019. Her other notable works include Heaven and All the Lovers in the Night. Kawakami's books have been widely translated, and she has received numerous literary awards, establishing her as a significant contemporary author.

If you have any questions, please call The Japan Society office on 020 3075 1996 or email events@japansociety.org.uk.

Booking Info