Irmela Hijiya-Kirschnereit

Irmela Hijiya-Kirschnereit studied Japanese studies, sinology, philosophy and sociology at the University of Hamburg, where she received her doctorate in 1975 and completed her habilitation in 1980. From 1991, she taught Japanese studies at Freie Universität Berlin, where she later became professor emerita. Her publications address Japanese literature and culture and appeared in German, English and Japanese. From 1990 to 2000, she edited the 34-volume Japanische Bibliothek series for Insel Verlag. She translated Japanese literature by authors including Enchi Fumiko, Ōba Minako, Nosaka Akiyuki and Ōe Kenzaburō. She also initiated the three-volume Great Japanese-German Dictionary. Her awards include the Leibniz Prize of the German Research Foundation (1992) and the Japan Foundation Award (2021).