Ongoing & upcoming events

This is an event (a tanka meeting) for beginners interested in tanka and uta-kai. Please compose one tanka on the theme "Books" in advance (it's OK if you don't explicitly mention "books" in the poem) and send it as a message to the X account @seihitsudou. Deadline: October 10.

This is the second installment of Henri Ohara and Ruko's love-of-reading talk. The two unabashed book obsessives will once again gush about their passion for reading — from the one book that hooked them, to favorite authors, when and where they read, their reading histories, and recent recommendations. Chances are you'll start looking at the unread stacks in your room with new fondness! A signing will be held after the talk.

Keigo Higashino, the celebrated mystery writer with ties to Aichi, who recently passed away to much regret. Let’s talk about your favorite works by Keigo Higashino. This time we will take the film-adapted and much-talked-about 'Swan and the Bat' as the assigned book. Keigo Higashino fans and mystery fans alike, please join us. The event is hosted by Mephisto Prize-winning author Kenji Kuroda, a devoted fan of Keigo Higashino.

We will hold a talk event to celebrate the publication of publishing journalist Kazufumi Iida's new book, 'The Myth of Declining Reading Comprehension Among Young People', published by Shueisha International.

A reporter for the mass-circulation paper "Nagoya Times" will talk about a different side of Nagoya's back pages from the Showa and Heisei eras that he captured. Lecturer: Naoki Kito (former Editor-in-Chief, "Nagoya Times") Lecturer profile Naoki Kito Born November 1946 in Nagoya. Graduated from Waseda University, First Faculty of Law, in March 1969. He joined the Nagoya Times in February of the same year. Assigned to the news reporting division (social affairs), he covered police rounds around Nagoya, worked as a roving reporter, covered the courts, and reported on municipal administration. He served as Editor-in-Chief from 1998 to 2007. He retired in October 2008 when the paper suspended publication.

An introductory tanka gathering hosted by Yodaka Some. Enjoy tanka while munching snacks. Snacks will be provided by Yodaka Some, but you are welcome to bring your own. If you would like to participate, please send your tanka (theme is free) by e-mail to [email protected] addressed to store manager Fujisaka by November 17.

Question the conventional wisdom about how we work! Based on research findings (evidence) from researchers around the world, why not reassess the "ways of working" we consider common sense? We will welcome Goryu Sato, a health economics researcher and full-time lecturer at Keio University, who recently published "The Science of Working" with Diamond Inc., to hear him speak.

Fans who adore the works of Noran Nijino, a writer from Nagoya — let's get together to discuss Noran's works. Noran Nijino will also join as a guest!

In the 2nd session, we will talk about the history of Nakamura Yūkaku from the modern Taisho period through the prewar Showa era. The lecturers are members of the Tokai Yūri History Research Group.

Set in the black markets of Nagoya after the end of the Pacific War, the manga 'Leftovers Make a Meal' portrays young people growing through food. We welcome the manga artist Megumi Tsuji to talk about Nagoya's black-market cuisine of that era and the behind-the-scenes of creating the manga. We will also invite Koichiro Hayashi, editor/compiler of 'Nagoya Station West Time Trip' and Associate Professor at Nagoya City University, to join Tsuji in discussing the west side of Nagoya Station during the black-market period.

Yoshio Tsujiyama, who has published the latest essay collection "Books, Cats, and the Blue Bicycle," will speak mainly about reading and writing — including writing about oneself and how to relate to books. A book signing will be held after the event. Venue: Kissa River Please apply via the event website, or by email to [email protected].

To celebrate the release of the latest tanka collection "Only the Moonlight Warms Those Who Cried Alone on the Way Home" by rising tanka poet Haru Mizumachi, who debuted with her first collection "Bitansan Tanka" (微炭酸短歌), we will hold a reading group. The host will be the familiar tanka poet Satsuki Suzuki. Haru Mizumachi will also appear as a guest. There will, of course, be a signing session. Please feel free to join us — we look forward to seeing you.

How to avoid frantically printing a free handout at 2:00 AM on the day of the event Yuzuha Hosaka, the organizer (and the one who’s struggling), will host a roundtable with the dependable Kanayu and Koyu Yuya. Let's talk about maintaining motivation, schedule management, and carving out time. Consultations and questions from participants are very welcome!

"Third-party response" refers to when someone speaks to a person, but, based on appearance or impression, you avoid replying to that person and instead respond to another person who is with them. Have you ever experienced that? This time we invite Akira Yoshikai, author of "What Is Third-Party Response?", to lead a workshop where participants share their experiences of third-party responses and consider approaches to communication.

This is a tanka gathering hosted by tanka poet Miyako Asai for beginners and those with only a short history of composing tanka. First-time participants are very welcome. If you would like to join, please compose one tanka (theme is free) and send it to: [email protected], Attn: Fujisaka. The deadline is December 15. Please feel free to participate. Profile of Miyako Asai: Born in Nagoya. Member of the tanka society Mahiruno. Winner of the Mahiruno Prize in 2017. She also teaches tanka classes at Tempaku Library in Nagoya. Her tanka collection "Tsubasa no Orime" is published by Hon'ami Shoten.

This session is a special program. We will be joined by Harumi Kato, author of "Living the Yukaku / Remembering the Yukaku" (published by Hitsuji Shobo). "Oiran processions" are held across the country. While they have become popular as symbols of yukaku culture, they may simply capture a glamorous aspect of a particular era and not reflect the realities of the yukaku since the modern period. How did this event spread, and how has it been received by the public? We will examine records and sources from prewar Nagoya to consider the actual circumstances.

Would you like to walk, now, in the world Kenji Miyazawa once gazed upon? In his poems and children’s tales unfold the land of Iwate, the starry sky, the wind and the light. And the gaze toward the people who live there――. In Miyazawa’s works a distinctive world spreads in which nature and humanity, science and faith, life and death resonate with one another. Guided by Professor Masataka Ota, this literature seminar traces the words of the works and leads to the “horizon” Kenji Miyazawa looked toward. It is a literary course that both longtime readers of Miyazawa and those who would like to start reading him can enjoy.