After graduating from college Kawakami began writing and editing for NW-SF, a Japanese science fiction magazine.[3] Her first short story, "Sho-shimoku" ("Diptera"), appeared in NW-SF in 1980.[2]
She also taught science in a middle school and high school, but became a housewife when her husband had to relocate for work.[4][1]
In 1994, at the age of 36, Kawakami debuted as a writer of literary fiction with a collection of short stories entitled Kamisama (God).[4] In 1996 Hebi wo fumi (Tread on a Snake) won the Akutagawa Prize, one of Japan's most prestigious literary awards.[5] It was later translated into English under the title Record of a Night Too Brief.[6] She received the Tanizaki Prize in 2001 for her novel Sensei no kaban (The BriefcaseorStrange Weather in Tokyo), a love story about a friendship and romance between a woman in her thirties and her former teacher, a man in his seventies.[7] After the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, Kawakami rewrote her debut short story "Kamisama" ("God"), keeping the original plot but incorporating the events of Fukushima into the story.[8]
In 2014 the film Nishino Yukihiko no Koi to Bōken, based on Kawakami's 2003 novel of the same name and starring Yutaka Takenouchi and Machiko Ono, was released nationwide in Japan.[9] That same year Kawakami's novel Suisei (水声) was published by Bungeishunjū. Suisei won the 66th Yomiuri Prize in 2015, with selection committee member Yōko Ogawa praising the book for expanding the horizon of literature.[10] In 2016 Kawakami's book Ōkina tori ni sarawarenai yō (大きな鳥にさらわれないよう), a collection of 14 short stories published by Kodansha, won the 44th Izumi Kyōka Prize for Literature.[11]
Kawakami's work explores emotional ambiguity by describing the intimate details of everyday social interactions.[12] Many of her stories incorporate elements of fantasy and magical realism. Her writing has drawn comparisons to Lewis Carroll[13] and Banana Yoshimoto,[14] and she has cited Gabriel García Márquez and J. G. Ballard as influences.[15] Many of her short stories, novel extracts, and essays have been translated into English, including "God Bless You" ("Kamisama"),[16] "The Moon and the Batteries" (extract from Sensei no kaban),[17] "Mogera Wogura",[18] "Blue Moon",[19] "The Ten Loves of Nishino",[20] and "People in My Neighborhood."
^Dejima, Yukiko (September 15, 2016). "Chapter 3: Tsunamis and Earthquakes in Japanese Literature". In Karan, Pradyumna; Suganuma, Unryu (eds.). Japan after 3/11: Global Perspectives on the Earthquake, Tsunami, and Fukushima Meltdown. University Press of Kentucky.
^宇田川, 幸洋 (February 8, 2014). "ニシノユキヒコの恋と冒険". Nikkei Style (in Japanese). Retrieved September 9, 2018.
^"小説賞 川上弘美 「水声」" [Novel Prize: Hiromi Kawakami for Suisei]. Yomiuri Shimbun (in Japanese). February 2, 2015. Retrieved September 8, 2015.
^"泉鏡花文学賞 川上弘美さんが受賞" [Izumi Kyōka Prize for Literature awarded to Hiromi Kawakami]. Mainichi Shimbun (in Japanese). October 13, 2016. Retrieved September 8, 2018.
^Kawakami, Hiromi (March 20, 2012). "God Bless You". Granta. Translated by Goossen, Ted; Shibata, Motoyuki. Retrieved June 18, 2018.
^Kawakami, Hiromi (January 11, 2012). "The Moon and the Batteries". Granta. Translated by Markin Powell, Allison. Retrieved June 18, 2018.
^Kawakami, Hiromi (2005). "Mogera Wogura". Paris Review. Vol. 173. Translated by Emmerich, Michael. Archived from the original on January 10, 2014. Retrieved June 18, 2018.
^Kawakami, Hiromi (April 24, 2014). "Blue Moon". Granta. Translated by North, Lucy. Retrieved June 18, 2018.
