Published: 

The Tennessean (Newspaper owned by Gannett/USA Today)

Travel restrictions continue as does COVID-19 and Omicron variant (originally titled “Travel Crib, Never Used”), December 29, 2021
Op-ed about the sacrifice my family made in light of Omicron, and the ways I have adapted to connecting with family members remotely over the last decade. 

Reckoning: Tennessee Writers on 2020, September 2021 (Buy at this link)

The Yokos
A short story about a woman coming to terms with her mother’s last days while living apart from her, in the context of everything happening around December 2020. 

Nashville Scene

Muscle Memory: On the pleasures of trusting my instincts in the kitchen, July 29, 2021
A personal essay for their “Vodka Yonic” series (featuring women and nonbinary writers) 

Waxing & Waning Presents: The Tennessee Tempest Edition, March 2021 (Buy the issue here)

The Magic We Create
An essay about living in Nashville through the pandemic of 2020, my long-distance relationship with my mother in Tokyo, and the parallels between the natural disasters of Tennessee and Japan. Runner-up in the Tennessee Tempest Contest.

The Pinch, Vol 40.2, Fall 2020 (Buy the issue here)

Invader
A short story about a Japanese woman who takes a business trip to Naoshima Island. Runner-up in The Pinch Literary Awards, judged by Bryan Washington, who commented: “Invader” excavated the middle ground between belonging and longing, branching the two states and weaving a narrative for a path forward.

Belmont Story Review, Vol 5: Longing

Umbrellas on a Sunny Day, Summer 2020
An essay about being a child during the 1995 Tokyo Sarin Gas Attacks, motherhood, innocence, and Murakami’s Underground.

Chapter 16, a publication of Humanities Tennessee

Grasshopper, January 17, 2020
First-place winner of the Tennessee True Stories Essay Contest, judged by Mary Laura Philpott

Hyphen Magazine

The Story of a New Name, June 10, 2019
An essay about all the times I’ve changed my name, most recently from Ko to Yoshikawa.

The New Inquiry

Little Big Eater Girl, January 18, 2016
An essay about Japanese female competitive eaters and eating disorders.

Manufactured Response, April 22, 2014
An essay about responses to the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

Columbia Political Review

Memory and Pacifism, October 31, 2010
A survey on the various responses to the U.S. military base presence in Okinawa, Japan.

Change Japan Can Believe In, October 18, 2009
A survey on the various responses to PM Yukio Hatoyama’s victory in the 2009 election.

Columbia Daily Spectator, regular columnist for a series called “2+2=5”

An expert on nothing, April 27, 2010

Brave new reader, April 13, 2010

The carnivore manifesto, March 30, 2010

The elimination of Women’s History Month, March, 2110, March 9, 2010

The gold standard, February 23, 2010

A romance of many dimensions, February 9, 2010

Frontiers of philosophy, January 26, 2010

There will be time, December 13, 2009

Can’t read my poker face, November 29, 2009

A matter of taste, November 15, 2009

A cosmic consciousness, October 18, 2009

Can machines produce art?, October 4, 2009

Why not wonder?, September 20, 2009