MIEKO KAWAKAMI // »Das gelbe Haus«

In the organizer's words:

The Harbour Front Literature Festival is looking forward to Mieko Kawakami, one of Japan's most important literary voices. Her novels have been translated into over 20 languages and have won numerous awards. In "The Yellow House", Kawakami vividly tells of the hope promised by a family of choice and astutely addresses the illusion of free will and the question of human dignity.
"Mieko Kawakami is a master of the unsaid."
- Carolin Courts, WDR 5 Scala

About the book:
The yellow house
Seventeen-year-old Hana dreams of a better future for herself and her mother, but life doesn't mean well for her. It is just before the turn of the millennium and the Japanese economy has stalled. When the older Kimiko takes Hana under her wing, she becomes part of a new, self-chosen family: a motley group of young women living on the margins of society. Under Kimiko's leadership, they take over a bar - and for the first time, Hana experiences a certain degree of security. But when money runs out, she finds herself in a parallel criminal world that ends in tragedy.

Publication date: August 12, 2025

About the author:
Mieko Kawakami, born in Osaka, is one of Japan's most important literary voices. She achieved international fame with the bestseller "Breasts and Eggs" (DuMont 2020). Her works have been translated into over 20 languages and have been awarded the Akutagawa Prize, the Tanizaki Prize and the Murasaki Shikibu Prize, among others. With "Heaven" (shortlisted for the International Booker Prize 2022) and "All the Lovers of the Night" (shortlisted for the National Book Critics Circle Awards 2023), she has impressively underlined her exceptional position. She lives in Tokyo.