Works in progress:
The Mouth and the Voice: A Novel
Submitted for the Columbia School of the Arts M.F.A. degree, 2014. A semi-autobiographical novel that takes place in the immediate aftermath of the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami, centering on a 23 year-old girl named Sachi Kamakura who comes back to live with her parents in Tokyo after five years of living abroad. Themes: home, identity, trauma in pop culture, coming-of-age.
The Island is Burning: A Novel
Submitted for the Barnard Centennial Scholars Program, 2007. A result of two years visiting Okinawa and researching the various sides to the Battle of Okinawa during World War II, as well as the ongoing tension between local Okinawans and U.S. military bases. The novel focuses on an Okinawan woman named Chiyo who survived the mass suicides during the Battle of Okinawa and reflects on the traumas of war as an elderly woman living in Yomitan village, only miles from the contentious U.S. air force base. Themes: WWII, war memory, U.S.-Japan relations, trauma.
Published:
Hyphen Magazine:
The Story of a New Name, June 10, 2019
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
Essay about Japanese female competitive eaters and eating disorders.
Manufactured Response, April 22, 2014
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, 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
