K-Book in Tokyo: Award-winning Korean novelists meet Japanese readers at first-ever event

Two Japan Bookstore Award-winning Korean authors met Japanese readers at Daikanyama Tsutaya Bookstore on July 3, kicking off the inaugural 'K-Book in Tokyo' event.

Hwang Bo-reum's Welcome to Hunam-dong Bookstore won 1st place in the translated novel category at the 2024 Japan Bookstore Awards. Kim Ho-yeon's The Uncomfortable Convenience Store came in 3rd in the same category. Both appeared at a 'K-Book Talk' session at Tsutaya.

The event spans two venues through July 23: the Korean Cultural Center in Japan and Daikanyama Tsutaya Bookstore. The Korean Cultural Center in Japan and the Korean Publishing Culture Industry Promotion Agency are organizing it together. Programming includes book exhibitions and book talks. Around 100 titles fill the Cultural Center's exhibition—Korean literary works and picture books in Japanese translation. Tsutaya's literature section hosts a separate 'K-Book Exhibition' aimed at Japanese readers.

Kim Ho-yeon said: "Many people have come to accept literature as they like and become familiar with Korean culture such as food, songs, and dramas."

Hwang Bo-reum traced a direct line from cultural interest to translation. Fans who taught themselves Korean have become translators, she explained. Korean cultural reach, she argued, is what lets Korean literature spread abroad.

Park Young-hye, Director of the Korean Cultural Center in Japan, noted that Japanese interest in Korean literature and publishing has "been steadily expanding." She hopes the event deepens Korea-Japan publishing and cultural exchange. (First edition of the event—the name says it all.)