Hiromi Kawakami (川上 弘美, Kawakami Hiromi, maiden name Yamada (山田), April 1, 1958) is a Japanese novelist. She was born in Tokyo. She has contributed short stories to science fiction magazines and has been involved in editing since she was in college. After working as a high school biology teacher, she won the Pascal Short Story Prize for New Writers in 1994 for her short story Kamisama (God). She won the Akutagawa Prize in 1996 for Hebi wo fumi (Tread on a snake). She specializes in depictions of a fantastic world and everyday life. Other major works include Oboreru, Sensei no kaban (The Briefcase or Strange Weather in Tokyo), and Manazuru. Her novel Nishino Yukihiko no Koi to Bōken was adapted into a film by director Nami Iguchi in 2014.
