Lesley Downer

Lesley Downer is an award-winning and internationally best-selling author, historian and all-round Japan buff. Her mother was Chinese and her father a professor of Chinese. She ended up almost by accident in Japan and became fascinated by the country, its culture and its people. She lived there for many years and often goes back. She has written many books, fiction and non-fiction, about it.

Lesley was the historical consultant for Northern Ballet’s spectacular 2020 ballet, Geisha, and appears on Netflix in Age of the Samurai: Battle for Japan and in Pernel Media’s documentary film Sekigahara. She taught on the MA programme in Creative Writing at City University, London.

Lesley’s latest book. The Shortest History of Japan, is the gripping saga of 16,500 years of Japanese history. Her first book, On the Narrow Road to the Deep North, on her travels in the footsteps of the 17th century haiku poet Basho, has recently been reissued by Eland Books.