“Biri Gal” at Japan Society
Sayaka Kobayashi, the inspiration behind the Japanese film Flying Colors (Biri Gal / ビリギャル), will give an author talk and book signing at Japan Society on Thursday, February 27 at 7:00 p.m.
Author Talk & Signing: Meet Real-Life Biri Gal Sayaka Kobayashi
Thursday, February 27 at 7:00 p.m.
Japan Society – 333 E. 47th Street (between 1st and 2nd Avenues)
Admission: $25 | $23 Seniors, Students, and Persons with Disabilities | $20 Japan Society Members
Sayaka Kobayashi is the real-life inspiration behind the 2015 Japanese movie Flying Colors (Biri Gal / ビリギャル), which is based on her journey from a troubled middle school student on the verge of expulsion to passing one of Japan’s most difficult university entrance exams. Now, on the 10th anniversary of this beloved film, Japan Society presents Kobayashi for a talk about her life, career, writing and motivation.
Sayaka Kobayashi
About Sayaka Kobayashi
Struggling with poor academic performance throughout high school, Kobayashi dedicated herself to an intense study regimen for a year and a half, and after tremendous effort, she succeeded in securing admission to the prestigious Keio University. Her story became the best-selling book The Story of a Gal at the Bottom of her School Year who Raised her Standard Score by 40 Points in One Year and Got Accepted into Keio University, written by her dedicated tutor, Nobutaka Tsubota. This book, which has sold more than one million copies, led to Flying Colors (Biri Gal / ビリギャル).
Since her Keio success, Kobayashi earned a master’s degree in cognitive science from Columbia University in 2024, and she has recently written the book How I Fell in Love with Learning, a guide that explores the essential elements for effective learning.
To purchase tickets to this event, please visit Japan Society’s website. Our friends at Japan Society are offering JapanCultureNYC members a discount to this event! Members will receive a separate email with the code for $10 tickets. Not member of JapanCultureNYC? Join now by going to https://www.japanculture-nyc.com/membership.
How I Fell in Love with Learning by Sayaka Kobayashi
About the Book
How I Fell in Love with Learning (私はこうして勉強にハマった) was published by Sanctuary Publishing in Japan in July 2024. Sayaka Kobayashi unpacks her success story through the lens of cognitive science, drawing on insights gained at Columbia University. The book explores three essential elements for effective learning: strong motivation, the right strategies and study methods and a supportive environment that sustains the learner’s enthusiasm. By focusing on these key factors, How I Fell in Love with Learning offers a practical guide to study techniques for anyone. The book is accessible to everyone from middle school students to parents and educators, providing tools to improve academic performance alongside guidance on fostering a love of learning and confidence-building.
Autographs and Book Sales
Attendees of Japan Society’s Sayaka Kobayashi talk and signing will be able to purchase copies of How I Fell in Love with Learning at the event or bring books from home for a signing session following the author’s talk. Please note How I Fell in Love with Learning is available only in Japanese.
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Meet Cookbook Author Sonoko Sakai
Cookbook author Sonoko Sakai. Photo by Rick Poon.
Book Talk and Signing: Sonoko Sakai and Wafu Cooking
Wednesday, December 11 at 7:00 p.m.
Japan Society – 333 E. 47th Street (between 1st and 2nd Avenues)
Admission: $25 | $20 Japan Society members | $23 Seniors, Students, and Persons with Disabilities
Japan Society is hosting a special talk and signing with bestselling author Sonoko Sakai on December 11 to celebrate the release of her newest book, Wafu Cooking: Everyday Recipes with Japanese Style. This event will be moderated by novelist and cookbook writer Sanaë Lemoine.
Thanks to our friends at Japan Society, JapanCulture•NYC readers have access to complimentary tickets to attend! Please visit Japan Society’s website and enter code SONOKOFRIEND at checkout.
About Wafu Cooking
Wafu (literally “Japanese style”) food combines flavors, ingredients, and techniques from around the planet with a distinctly Japanese personality, and this new cookbook presents 120-plus original globally influenced Japanese recipes. Sakai’s book captures the cultural exchange between Japan and the world in dishes that have come to Japan from abroad and have been “wafu-ed” to suit local tastes and in Japanese dishes that are reimagined through an American lens, reflecting the interconnected way we eat today.
Sonoko Sakai. Photo by Rick Poon.
About Sonoko Sakai
Author Sonoko Sakai was born in New York to Japanese parents and grew up in San Francisco, Kamakura, Mexico City, and Tokyo. Her books include Japanese Home Cooking, Rice Craft, and The Poetical Pursuit of Food. She has worked as a recipe developer, producer, creative director, cooking teacher, and lecturer. She lives in California with her sculptor husband, Katsuhisa Sakai.
From Wafu Cooking by Sonoko Sakai. Photos by Rick Poon.
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BOOK TALK AT DONALD KEENE CENTER
Navigating Narratives: Tsurayuki's Tosa Diary as History and Fiction
Friday, September 27 at 6:00 p.m.
Columbia University – Kent Hall, Room 403
Admission: Free
The Donald Keene Center of Japanese Culture at Columbia University kicks off the 2024–2025 academic year with a book talk by Gustav Heldt, professor of Japanese literature at the University of Virginia.
This talk will outline several unique insights into Heian Japan provided by Ki no Tsurayuki's Tosa nikki (Tosa Diary), which is ostensibly the record of an ex-governor's voyage back to the capital kept by an anonymous woman in his entourage. The resulting split between fictional female narrator and historical male author has usually led Tosa nikki to be viewed as either the first Heian woman's memoir or the last aesthetic manifesto of one of the Japanese poetic tradition's foremost figures. In lieu of these narratives, it will be argued that the diary merits attention for the discursive practices, representational conventions, and non-elite social contexts it illuminates.
Preregistration is required by noon on Thursday, September 26. Click here for the Google Form.
About Gustav Heldt
Gustav Heldt specializes in the language, literature, and cultural history of Japan prior to contact with the West, with related interests in gender, poetics, narratology, ritual practices, comparative historiography, and myth. At the University of Virginia, he regularly teaches courses such as Survey of Japanese Literature and Introduction to Literary Japanese, as well as seminars on more specialized topics such as Japanese myth, the Tale of Genji, Japanese court women's literature, and medieval warrior tales.
Copyright © 2024 Donald Keene Center of Japanese Culture. All rights reserved.
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