Writers in Kyoto

Dinner with Eric Oey of Tuttle Publishing (members only)
2024-11-29 19:00 (Asia/Tokyo) | Irish Bar Gnome, Nakagyo Ward, Ichinofunairicho, 375, Kyoto, 604-0924, Japan
Join WiK for dinner with Eric Oey, CEO of Tuttle Publishing.
(This event is open only to WiK members.)
Friday, November 29, 7 PM at Irish Bar Gnome, Kyoto.
Reserve your spot online.

In this video, Eric Oey introduces Tuttle at The London Book Fair:

Celebrating Ken Rodgers
2024-12-22 15:00 - 20:00 | International Community House Kokoka, Kyoto, 2-1 Torii-cho, Awataguchi, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, 606-8536, Japan
John Einarsen writes:

Dear everyone: Below is information on Ken’s Memorial Party. Please spread the word. Anyone who knows Ken is welcome!

On November 4th, we lost one of the most well-grounded and respected individuals in Kyoto. Editor, poet, impresario, pilgrim, farmer, doting grandfather—Ken Rodgers was a mainstay of Kyoto Journal and our community. All of us treasured our interactions with Ken—they were always positive and caring. Let’s share our gratitude and celebrate his good life with a party (as he always wished):

Place: The Japanese-style annex (wafu bekkan) at the International Community House in Kyoto or Kokoka (across the street from Nanzenji and Murin-an). Parking available (¥1,000 all day). Access

Date and Time: Sunday, December 22nd, between 3:00–8:00pm (come when you can). Opening greeting: 3:30pm

What to bring: Home-made food and drink to share, poems, songs, photos, memories, stories, music. If anyone wishes to help us pre-party, set up and cleanup on the day, please contact us.

11月4日、私たちは、私たちのコミュニティーの中で最も地に足のついた、尊敬すべき人物の一人を失いました。ケン・ロジャースは農夫であり、編集者であり、詩人であり、仏道と詩の旅人であり、父であり、祖父であり、司会者であり、人と言葉をつなぐ人でした。私たちにとってケンとの関りはとても大事なものでした。ケンはいつも前向きで思いやりのある人でした。ケンへの感謝を分かち合い、パーティーでケンを偲び、彼の生きた良き人生を祝したいと思います。 (ケンはいつもパーティをしたがっていました。)

日時：12月22日（日）15:00〜20:00

場所：京都市国際交流会館　和風別館 International Community House (kokoka), なるべく、公共機関でおいでください。

京都市左京区粟田口鳥居町2番地の1

2-1 Torii-cho, Awataguchi, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, 606-8536 Access

For more information, contact: John Einarsen, 090-9459-6303

Entrance to the annex (next to the bicycle parking)

Writers in Kyoto Shinnenkai (members only)
2025-01-26 18:00 - 21:00 | Irish Bar Gnome, Nakagyo Ward, Ichinofunairicho, 375, Kyoto, 604-0924, Japan
Due to time considerations, Writers in Kyoto will be hosting a Shinnenkai instead of a Bonenkai this time. Please see date and time below.
Date: January 26, 2025 (Sunday）
Time: 6–9 pm
Place: Irish Bar Gnome, Kyoto (as usual)
Instead of the usual Words & Music format, I’d like to do the following:
Published authors may bring books to put on a table to sell, and give a short talk about their publishing journey.
Mini-memorial for our beloved member Ken Rodgers, passed in early November 2024. Anyone who wants to say a few words or share a memory of Ken can do so.
Party!!
This is a preliminary notice, another one calling for registration, participation and food orders will be posted around mid-December. Please be thinking about whether you would like to contribute to 1 or 2 above. Thank you.
— Rebecca Otowa

“Asymmetrical Writing” Workshop with Andy Couturier
2025-06-29 13:30 - 17:00 | David Duff’s Home, Shimogamo, Kyoto
“Asymmetrical Writing” Workshop with Andy Couturier
June 29 (Sunday) 1:30–5:00 pm.
at David Duff ‘s home in Shimogamo, Kyoto

Workshop description:
“The artist is giving a gift, I think, if she leaves some connections unfinished. Implied. The artist is giving a gift, I think, when the composition is multifaceted, offering a multitude of elements that combine in an abundance of ways. There’s space for the viewer — or reader — to move around inside.”
—From Andy’s essay in Kyoto Journal.
Learn to embrace ambiguity and surprise in your writing. With the approach of “asymmetry” — based on ikebana design, Chinese ink paintings and Japanese rock gardens — a writer can be more generous to to their reader while at the same time capturing the true complexity of the world, and the mystery of human life. Not only does this make the writing process much easier, it also gives the reader more freedom to participate in the fertile act of creation.
In this experiential workshop, you can generate a fresh, new piece of writing that allows the reader a way to enter the work with their own creativity and imagination, and you will take home a technique you can use to generate first drafts quickly, with flair and panache.

About Andy
Andy Couturier is the author of Writing Open the Mind, and has been an independent writing instructor of more than 25 years with theopening.org. He is the winner of the 2017 Nautilus award for Sustainability and Green Living (Gold). In addition to teaching, he has finished 4 full-length manuscripts, and published 3 books, including The Abundance of Less, a highly acclaimed book about sustainable living in rural Japan. Andy has over 50 publication credits including Kyoto Journal, MIT Press, The Oakland Tribune, The Japan Times, and more.
What to bring: Pen or pencil, and a hardback journal, or a laptop or tablet if you prefer. We will probably not have tables available so be prepared to write on your lap.

TO SIGN UP:
Please send an email to Rebecca Otowa rebecca.on.her.way@gmail.com by June 20. I will reply and give directions to David’s house.
Limit (space considerations): 10 people.

Presentation on American poet Lindley Williams Hubbell by Paul Rossiter
2025-07-13 15:00 - 17:00 | East Hall, Ryukoku University, Room 303 in the East Hall, Omiya Campus, Ryukoku University, Kyoto, Japan
Join us on Sunday, July 13 for a presentation by Paul Rossiter, of Isobar Press, on the American poet Lindley Williams Hubbell, who arrived in Kyoto in 1953 and stayed. He assumed the name Hayashi Shūseki, became a Japanese citizen, taught at Doshisha University, and continued to publish poetry.
Rossiter will tell us about Hubbell’s life and share some of his poetry from the latest publications by Isobar, of Selected Poems by Hubbell and a reissue of his masterpiece, Long Island Triptych (1947).
Rossiter has also invited to join us English-language poet Yoko Danno, who set up Ikuta Press in Kobe to publish Hubbell’s work, as well as her own.
We are very grateful to Ryukoku University for allowing us the use of a room at their Omiya campus for this event, which is open free to all.
Details
Date: Sunday, July 13, 2025
Time: 3 p.m. – 5 p.m.
Place: Room 303 in the East Hall, Omiya Campus, Ryukoku University. (Building No. 10 on the (Building No. 10 on the map.).)
We look forward to seeing you there.

WiK Anthology 6 Launch Party
2025-10-11 18:00 - 21:00 | Garden Lab Tea & Bar, 京都府京都市下京区石不動之町６８２−７, Kyoto, Japan
Join us as we celebrate the launch of the 6th Writers in Kyoto Anthology – a collection that brings together essays, stories, and poems from across our unique community.
Expect an evening of words, conversation, and connection. Copies of the anthology will be available. Drinks, mingling, and plenty of inspiration guaranteed.
Whether you’re a writer, a reader, or just curious, this is a chance to meet Kyoto’s creative crowd and be part of a night that celebrates the written word.

WiK Bonenkai
2025-12-07 18:00 - 21:00 | Irish Bar Gnome, Nakagyo Ward, Ichinofunairicho, 375, Kyoto, 604-0924, Japan
Date: Sunday, December 7
Time: 6-9pm (the venue opens at 6pm, so let’s start the show at 6:30)
Place: Irish Pub Gnome

There are a couple of new requirements from the Gnome.

Attendees are required to place at least two orders each. That can be for two drinks, or one drink and one food item, or all for food — it’s up to you.
A door charge is also being applied, but at least this time around, WiK will pay that as a lump sum.

Also important to know is that John Dougill plans to join us! Health permitting, and all of that.
Contact Kirsty Kawano if you would like to step onto the stage to share either Words or Music.

Toward Possibility: A Poetry Workshop with Nathan Mader
2026-01-22 19:00 - 21:00
Workshop for the poetry curious — and any writer wanting to add interest to their process.

Date: 7:00 PM, Thursday January 22 (2026)
Location: David Duff’s library (Just N of Shimogamo-jinja: If requested, I can send a pin via Messenger.)
Fee: WiK members, no charge; non-members, JPY 500.

While writing, have you ever felt that moment when words that were humdrum suddenly turn into living language? Poetic writing can open space to reach toward what you didn’t know when you began writing. This workshop seeks to instill that sense of openness and possibility in your writing.

Making poetry can help you learn to listen to “The Invisible.” In this session, you will discover how embracing a nuanced understanding of the volta—the “turn” from one thought to another—can help you uncover what your writing truly wants to say.

What we will do: Explore the dynamic turns of a few select poems. After this, you’ll have a chance to explore the power of the volta by writing a haiku, a couplet, or some free verse.

What to bring: Please bring a pen and notebook or other preferred writing tools. If you are currently working on a poem that feels stuck or at an impasse, bring it along! Time permitting, we can workshop it.

Nathan Mader is the author of the poetry collection The Endless Animal (fineperiodpress, 2024), which was a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award. His poems have appeared in Plenitude, The Fiddlehead, Kyoto Journal and elsewhere, includingThe Best Canadian Poetry (Biblioasis).

Contact: David Eunice

Writers Afternoon In Kyoto
2026-01-31 13:00 - 16:00
Hosts: David Duff & Rebecca Otowa
Date: January 31 (Sat)
Time: 1-4 pm
Place: David Duff’s house and library in Ipponmatsu just north of Shimogamo Shrine.
What it is:
Rebecca Otowa writes:
This is the first time but I hope to make it regular. First time means deciding when to do it and what it will entail (see below). Thus there will be a short meeting of participants at the end.
I envision about 1 1/2-2 hours uninterrupted writing with or without provided prompts, prose or poetry, whatever you like, followed by reading the work if you wish. Not for publication but just for fun & exercise.
This idea came to me after musing that if we are going to call ourselves writers in Kyoto, there should be some writing done in Kyoto.
All are welcome.
Limit about 8-10 people. It would be good if you say whether you are coming, RSVP to my email.
Please bring paper & pen or tablet or PC for writing. A number of boards will be provided for handwriting. There aren’t many tables.

Contact: rebecca.on.her.way@gmail.com

100 Links, 500 Years
2026-02-07 15:00 - 17:00
On 7 February, in an event hosted by Writers in Kyoto, Isobar Press will be launching two brand-new books — Floating Words by Yoko Danno, and Glasgow-Tokyo Line by James McGonigal and John Pazdziora, each featuring a 100-link multi-authored renga. Yoko Danno, Jessica Goodfellow and Paul Rossiter will be reading from Yoko Danno’s translation of the renga masterpiece Minase Sangin Hyakuin, composed in 1488, and John Pazdziora and Iain Maloney will be reading from Glasgow–Tokyo Line, written by email very recently. Yoko Danno will also read a few of her own new poems. In the second set there will be short readings of their own work by several other Isobar authors: Iain Maloney, Jessica Goodfellow, Gregory Dunne and Paul Rossiter. Please do come along if you can: entrance is free!

Date: 7 February 2026
Time: 3:00 p.m.
Place: Room 303 in the East Hall, Omiya Campus, Ryukoku University. Building No. 10 on the map

Writers Afternoon in Kyoto
2026-03-28 13:00 - 16:00
Hosts: David Duff & Rebecca Otowa
Date: March 28 (Sat)
Time: 1-4 pm
Place: David Duff’s house and library in Ipponmatsu just north of Shimogamo Shrine
Fee: WiK Members – 200 yen, Nonmembers – 300 yen (to defray expenses)
What it Is:
Rebecca Otowa writes:
This is a follow-up to our January event. Please read the event report here to see how we used our time.
All are welcome.
Limit about 5-6 people. Please RSVP to my email.
and be sure to bring writing utensils.

Contact: rebecca.on.her.way@gmail.com

Writers Afternoon in Kyoto
2026-05-23 13:00 - 16:00
Hosts: David Duff & Rebecca Otowa
Date: May 23 (Sat)
Time: 1-4 pm
Place: David Duff’s house and library in Ipponmatsu just north of Shimogamo Shrine
Fee: WiK Members – 200 yen, Nonmembers – 300 yen (to defray expenses)
Please bring writing material, pencil and notebook or tablet, etc. This is a fun and non-pressure event in which you can write and meet new people. A few writing exercises will be provided.
Please register for this event by May 10 at:
rebecca.on.her.way@gmail.com
I will give details of location to registrants after May 10.
See you there!

Book Break: Stephen Mansfield, author of “The Modern Japanese Garden”
2026-05-26 17:45 - 20:30 | Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan Function Room, Nijubashi Building, 5F, 3 Chome-2-3 Marunouchi, Chiyoda City, Tokyo, 100-0005, Japan
The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan
BOOK BREAKS
Download event info (PDF)
Photojournalist and author Stephen Mansfield will talk about his background and why he has developed a particular interest in Japanese gardens, mentioning relevant previous experiences, publications and the genesis and evolution of the book, The Modern Japanese Garden (Thames & Hudson, 2025) in the pre-publication stage.
He will explain how the book features iconic and representative gardens from around Japan, including those of prominent museums and public buildings, plus many newly completed examples at the vanguard of Japanese garden design today, with an analysis of key works of interest through detailed individual garden profiles. He will briefly touch on the relationship between nature and modernity, and how this is represented in the gardens featured in the book. Dividing between pre- and post-1945 Japanese garden design, he will examine some of the post-war shifts in attitudes towards contemporary gardens as they move from status symbols and expressions of political influence to spaces resembling art installations, environments for healing and meditation. Chapters content will be introduced, and the reasoning behind their inclusion explained alongside slide images.
Mansfield will explain the function of short Interludes in the book in refreshing and invigorating the main text and introducing extra sub-topics outside its scope. He will expand on the presence in the book of a number of essays by prominent industry experts from within and outside Japan: garden designers, scholars, writers and architects, including Kengo Kuma and Shunmyo Masuno. The talk will be supplemented with a small number of short reading samples from the text.

Stephen Mansfield is a British photojournalist and author, based in Japan and specializing in Japanese garden design. Stephen’s work has appeared across various magazines, newspapers and journals world-wide, including The Geographical, CNN Travel, Critical Asian Studies and Nikkei Asia. He is the author of twenty books, including the critical history, Tokyo: A Biography. His work has been translated into French, German, Polish and Chinese.
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 Seafood Japanese-style Salad, Chicken Breast Cordon Bleu Style, Bread, Dessert, Coffee or Tea. A vegetarian option is available. Please inform the club of food restrictions when reserving (front@fccj.or.jp ). Price: 3,000 yen for members; 4,000 yen for non-members.(mailto: front@fccj.or.jp)
Beverages can be purchased at the venue at just 550 yen per drink (non-members can purchase drink tickets at Reception).
Online attendance (Zoom) is available by reservation at 550 yen per person.

The member reservation deadline is 2 pm May 26.
Non-members must reserve and pay by Thursday, May 21.
No cancellations after Saturday, May 23.
(The talk will be in English)

Event Info
Date & Time
Tuesday, May 26, 2026, 17:45 – 20:30
Venue
Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan
Function Room
Price
¥ 3000 (Member)¥ 4000 ( Non-member)¥ 550 (Online Attendance)¥ 550 (Drink)

Writers Afternoon in Kyoto
2026-07-25 13:00 - 16:00
Hosts: David Duff & Rebecca Otowa
Date: July 25 (Sat)
Time: 1-4 pm
Place: David Duff’s house and library in Ipponmatsu just north of Shimogamo Shrine
Fee: WiK Members – 200 yen, Nonmembers – 300 yen (to defray expenses)
Please bring writing material, pencil and notebook or tablet, etc. This is a fun and non-pressure event in which you can write and meet new people. A few writing exercises will be provided.
Please register for this event by July 10 at:
rebecca.on.her.way@gmail.com
I will give details of location to registrants after July 10.
See you there!
