Originally from Manchester, UK, Louise Heal Kawai has lived in Japan for about 25 years and been a translator of Japanese literature for the past 10. Her translations include the bestselling memoir Yakuza Moon by Shoko Tendo, the ground-breaking feminist Taeko Tomioka novel Building Waves, A Quiet Place by the mystery writer Seicho Matsumoto and Ms Ice Sandwich by Mieko Kawakami.