Personal Projects

In Progress: 

The Yokos: A novel (represented by Martha Wydysh at Trident Media Group)

Published: 

Litro Magazine

Fox in the Snow, January 22, 2023
A short story, part of the Yoko in Nashville universe

The Atlantic

Seven Books About How Homes Shape Our LifeJanuary 13, 2023

Vol. 1 Brooklyn

StillNovember 27, 2022
A short story about a woman in New York trying to find stillness in a noisy world.

The Margins, a publication of Asian American Writers’ Workshop (AAWW)

The Mold, September 23, 2022
Flash fiction piece, part of the Yoko in Nashville universe

Chapter 16, a publication of Humanities Tennessee

We, the Swimmers: Julie Otsuka’s perspective-bending novel should be our call to action, September 20, 2022
Book review of Julie Otsuka’s The Swimmers

Lit Hub

Streaming Autofiction: On Nathan Fielder’s Search for Authenticity in The Rehearsal – Yurina Yoshikawa Places the HBO Series in Context with Its Literary Predecessors, September 9, 2022

NPR

5 translated books from Japan to soothe battered souls this fall, August 30, 2022

Edible Nashville

Shop Like a Japanese Cook, Sept/Oct 2022

Chapter 16, a publication of Humanities Tennessee

Outwardly Fine, Inwardly Lost: Katie Kitamura’s International Novel Hits Close to Home, August 23, 2022
Book review of Intimacies: A novel
Syndicated in Chattanooga Times Free PressAugust 27, 2022

The Japan Times

‘How Do You Live?’: Timeless lessons for a new generation, May 7, 2022
Book review of Genzaburo Yoshino’s 1937 classic, translated into English for the first time by Bruno Navasky

Edible Nashville 

Sea to Table: Aloha Fish Co. delivers fresh seafood to landlocked Nashvillians, April 26, 2022
Interview feature with Jennifer & Jerry Cline of Aloha Fish Co.

Literary Hub

Yoko Tawada Captures the Unique Joys of Having an Uncategorizable Identity, April 25, 2022
An essay about Yoko Tawada’s novel Scattered All Over the Earth and what it meant to me as someone who doesn’t easily fit into a national or ethnic identity.

All Our Tomorrows

My Co-Parent Totoro, April 5, 2022
An essay about bicultural/bilingual parenting (and of course the iconic movie My Neighbor Totoro)

Chapter 16

Singin’ in the Rain, February 25, 2022
An essay about my love for karaoke

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

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