The Japan Writers Conference (JWC) 2024 will be held on Nov 2-3 at the F-BICC in Futaba, Fukushima
Pictures coming soon!
Click “PROGRAM” above to view or download; and “LATEST INFORMATION” to stay updated!
Important Dates
Nov 2nd-3rd:
JWC 2024
JWC 2024 is sponsored by F‑ATRAs
About
The Japan Writers Conference (JWC)—a free annual weekend conference—welcomes all interested in sharing ideas on the art, craft, and business of writing in the English language.
Entirely organized by volunteers, the JWC is hosted by a different Japanese establishment each year, with past venues in Tokyo, Hokkaido, Kobe, Kyoto, Tokushima, Iwate and Okinawa—the JWC 2023 was held at Sugiyama Jogakuen University in Nagoya, Aichi.
Past presenters include translator Juliet Winters Carpenter, Columnist Baye McNeil, YA writers Holly Thompson and Suzanne Kamata, science writers Amanda Alvarez and Elizabeth Tracker, journalist Elaine Lies, poet Jessica Goodfellow, poet/editors Phillip Rowland and Richard Jones, creative nonfiction writer Ann Tashi Slater, and novelists Barry Eisler, Naomi Hirahara, and Vikas Swarup; journals and publishers include The Font, Cha, Kyoto Journal, Fine Line Press, and Isobar Press.
Click here to see our YouTube videos.
JWC 2024 Host & Sponsor
The Futaba Area Tourism Research Association (F‑ATRAs) in Futaba, Fukushima will host and sponsor JWC 2024. Established in November 2019, F‑ATRAs is a local venture aiming to promote tourism and land operations, inviting people to rediscover the charms of Fukushima’s coastal areas. The company’s mission is to bring people worldwide to this unique place that has recovered from a nuclear disaster. F‑ATRAs aims to redefine travel by offering immersive experiences, allowing visitors to reflect on the value of community alongside self-discovery.
FAQ
This conference is free to all.
The JWC is free and open to all. Registration is not required, and everyone can come directly to the venue. However, we strongly recommend that anyone interested in attending the conference registers to stay updated, particularly in case of unexpected circumstances such as typhoons. The registration button will be available once the program is ready in August. Note: certain sessions may require preregistration or the submission of materials. Please refer to the corresponding schedule for further details.
All published writers, translators, editors, agents and publishers are welcome to submit presentation proposals. We especially encourage proposals from new submitters. One of our strengths has been variety, and the best way to foster variety is to have new presenters each year.
Those who have presented at past conferences are (of course) welcome to submit new proposals. But please, in the words of Ezra Pound, “Make it new.”
Presentations on all genres and all aspects of writing and publishing are welcome. The deadline for presentation proposals is June 1.
Most of the presentations at JWC are in English. However, sometimes there are also bilingual presentations. Please check the conference program for details.
Presenters and their publishers are free to bring copies of their books to sell at the conference. We will have a designated room with tables where they can display books, and this room is always popular with conference goers. Most simply leave their books on a table along with a price list and an envelope for money while they attend conference sessions. We have had no trouble with books going missing with this method. However, we cannot guarantee that people will pay. Also, we ask that people be sensitive to space limitations.
Please check out the following:
- meetup.com (there are several writers’ groups, including Tokyo Writers Workshop)
- swet.jp (Society of Writers, Editors and Translators)
- japan.scbwi.org (Society of Children’s Books Writers and Illustrators)
- www.writersinkyoto.com (English-language authors working or living in Kyoto).
We appreciate that travel and lodging can be expensive. However, because we are a free event, JWC does not have the resources to help with expenses.
Sorry, we are unable to help with this.
For all other questions, please contact us at: japanwritersconference@gmail.com
Venue
The 2024 JWC will be held at the Futaba Business Incubation and Community Centre (F-BICC) in Futaba town, Fukushima Prefecture. The venue is a 20-minute walk or a 6-minute bus ride from Futaba Station (fare: 200 yen, see the timetable for details). It is also just a 3-minute walk from the Arm Hotel. The center is equipped with Wi-Fi and projectors.
Futaba town, located in Fukushima Prefecture, was evacuated after the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station incident. On August 30, 2022, evacuation orders were lifted for about 10% of the town, with ongoing decontamination efforts. New homes are under construction, businesses are establishing, and the annual Festival Daruma-Ichi returned in 2023. The areas hosting the JWC are deemed safe, with radiation levels regularly monitored and within acceptable limits.
More information about the areas can be found at the following links:
For more questions about the venue, please contact Swastika at the following email address: jajoo@f-atras.jp
City Tour
Join F-ATRAs for the “Futaba Town Story Walking Tour,” curated by Tatsuhiro Yamane, a member of the Futaba Town Council with extensive experience in post-disaster community development. Gain insights into the town’s past, present, and future while becoming part of its narrative. Starting from the JWC venue, the one-hour tour departs at 16:30 on 2nd November (Saturday), and will end by 18:00. The tour costs 3000 JPY per person, payable in cash or credit card on November 2nd, 2024, at the JWC venue. Join us in supporting Futaba’s recovery journey!
Registration deadline: October 25th
For more questions about the tour, please contact Swastika at the following email address: jajoo@f-atras.jp
Team
We'll see you in Futaba!
LEAD ORGANIZER. Kartika grew up in Indonesia, and currently lives in Japan. She is a former full-time climate researcher, who one day arrived at a point that recalled her youth’s passion for writing. She started taking writing more seriously in 2021. Her work has appeared in Grande Dame Literary and White Enso, among others. Since 2023, she has served as the lead co-organizer of the Japan Writers Conference. She is pleased to meet all writing enthusiasts, despite their background, in JWC events.
CO-ORGANIZER. Swastika works as Manager for Fukushima Seaside, Japan and is simultaneously pursuing her PhD in Linguistics at Tohoku University. She has previously been an Editorial Resident for The Seventh Wave, and has published her poetry in Eunoia Review, Mudroom and Parentheses Journal among others. She has been nominated for Best of Net and Pushcart Prizes, and loves few things as much as she loves chai and Curious George.
SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER. Marc is an artist and writer/publisher of avant-garde-style books. He’s a lover of fine things, sartorial things, mechanical watches, alcoholic spirits, art, design, and photography, and he’s now the official photographer for the Japan Writers Conference.
LEAD WEBMASTER. Patrick is a free-lance science writer and editor, who is currently involved with a project intersecting blog design, data visualization, and kakenhi application. He is the web design specialist at JWC. He was born in Taiwan; grew up in southern France and then in northern Germany; and holds a Ph.D. in chemistry from Penn State. He currently lives in Fukushima prefecture and dreams of writing fiction that is worthwhile someday.
SUPPORTING WEBMASTER. Jonathan is a UK born web developer and English teacher who has been living in Chiba, Japan for about a decade. Besides updating the JWC website, in his free time he develops apps, reads short fiction and plays tabletop roleplaying games.
GENERAL ASSISTANT. Saki is an undergraduate student at Department of International Education, Tsuru University, Japan. At JWC, she helps translate from English to Japanese and assists all things before and during the events.
ADVISOR (Retired co-organizer). John is a poet and writer on music and other topics. A native of Southern California, he has lived in Tokyo since 1993. His work appears internationally and his books include 100 Poets, One Song Each (a translation of The Ogura Hyakunin Isshu of Fujiwara no Teika), Ueno Mornings and Another Wrong Fedora. He has been involved with the JWC since the first conference in 2007 and served as co-organizer from 2009 to 2023. Since 2024, he has kindly helped the team as an advisor.
Get Involved
Join JWC events
To stay in touch with the latest information, subscribe to our mailing list:
Spread the news
We are always looking for a chance to publicize the JWC. If you know of a publication that would be interested in publishing an announcement or interview, please let us know.
Recommend speakers
If you know someone the JWC might approach–either living in Japan or planning to visit Japan next autumn–please let us know. Contact information would be a great help!
Host a JWC
We are always looking for sites for future conferences. If you would like to host a JWC in the future, please let us know. The sites could be anywhere in Japan. Our annual conferences are two days long and are usually held over a weekend in the fall. We need at least four classrooms: three for conference sessions and one to display books. The session rooms should have projectors that can be used for PowerPoint presentations. Because this is a free conference, we cannot pay for the use of these rooms.
Press
News, magazines, blogs, videos
Writers Unite: Navigating the Craft at the English-Speaking Japan Writers Conference
GoConnect - Nov 2, 2023
Japan Writers Conference turns new page in 17th year
The Japan News - OCT 8, 2023
Global Authors to Gather at the 17th English-Speaking Japan Writers Conference
GoConnect - OCT 6, 2023
Tom Baker (Saitama) interviewed by the CONNECT Team
Connect Magazine - May 19, 2023
Japan Writers Conference reflects a changing world
The Japan News - Oct 5, 2022
The Japan Writers Conference: 8 Questions With John Gribble
Tokyo Weekender - Sep 29, 2022
Japan Writers Conference and revival of Monkey magazine make for a literary October
The Japan Times - Oct 4, 2020
Tackling writer's block at the Japan Writers Conference
The Japan Times - Oct 9, 2019
B.S. Donovan (Blog)
Japan Writers Conference - Oct 15, 2017 - No confefe, it was a conference, last weekend. Same as last year, I had two days to think about, talk about, and dream of writing...
B.S. Donovan (Blog)
Japan Writers Conference - Oct 30, 2016 - This last weekend I joined the Japan Writers Conference at Tokushima University. An annual event, about a hundred educators, journalists, poets, writers, and hangers-on like...
Trevor Kew (Blog)
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