Author Meet and Greet
An Evening with Author Keiichiro Hirano

Date:
Thursday, February 26, 2026

Time:
7:00-8:30pm

Location:
The Japan Foundation, Los Angeles
5700 Wilshire Blvd, Ste 100

Talk by Author Keiichiro Hirano
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Join an intimate conversation with acclaimed Japanese author Keiichiro Hirano as he discusses the explorations of the human psyche through novels such as Eclipse, A Man, and other works. The event will surely be an engaging conversation where Hirano will share thoughts about his creative process, how he delves into the psychological minutiae of his characters, and how his writing evolved from romanticism to dividualism throughout his prolific career. Joining Hirano will be Professor Kerim Yasar as a moderator and conversation facilitator. 

Copies of Hirano's book Eclipse may be purchased during the event from on-site vendor Chevalier's Books. Books purchased on site or brought from home will be signed by the author.

Author:

Keiichiro Hirano
Keiichiro Hirano is an award-winning Japanese author who debuted with “Eclipse” and won the Akutagawa Prize at age 23. Renowned for his psychological insight and exploration of universal themes like identity, love, and acceptance, his work spans literary fiction, essays. His novels have been widely translated, “At the End of the Matinee” “A MAN” and “The Real You” have been adapted for film. A former cultural envoy to Paris, he has delivered lectures across Europe and appeared in a TED talk on self-love and identity.

His books available in English include “A MAN” (2020), “At the End of the Matinee (2021)“, and “Eclipse”(2024). He has also published in Japan, a critical study on Yukio Mishima and, most recently, the short story collection “Mt. Fuji”.

He has been staying in New York for an extended period since the summer of 2025.

Moderator:

Kerim Yasar
Kerim Yasar is Associate Professor of East Asian Languages and Cultures at the University of Southern California, where he specializes in modern Japanese literature, East Asian cinema, and media history. His scholarship explores the intersections of technology and culture, most notably in his monograph Electrified Voices: How the Telephone, Phonograph, and Radio Shaped Modern Japan, 1868-1945 (Columbia University Press, 2018). This work provides a groundbreaking look at how auditory technologies reconstructed Japanese language and performance during the modernization era. In addition to this research, he is active as a translator in a variety of genres and media, from contemporary novels to pre-modern poetry to the subtitles for more than a hundred feature films in the Criterion Collection/Janus Films library, including classic works by directors such as Kurosawa Akira, Ozu Yasujirō, and Ōshima Nagisa. He is also the translator of Hirano Keiichirō’s novella, The Transparent Labyrinth.

He is currently working on a second book project, Gestures in Light, which offers a critical examination of physical expressivity and the body in Japanese cinema. He holds a Ph.D. in East Asian Languages and Cultures from Columbia University.