Isabella Dionisio (born 1980) is an Italian writer and translator whose essays explore classical and modern Japanese literature. Born in Italy, she studied Japanese at the University of Venice and moved to Japan in 2005. She completed a master’s programme in Japanese language and literature within comparative social and cultural studies at Ochanomizu University, then worked in Italian and English translation and translation project management. Her research interests included Mari Mori and Aya Koda, and she contributed articles and essays on Japanese literature to magazines and online publications. In “Heian Joshi wa, Minna Hisshi de Koi Shiteta,” she reread classical literature from the perspective of a contemporary working woman, examining love and ambitions for advancement among women whose opportunities for financial independence were limited. From April 2021 she appeared as a regular guest on NHK Radio’s “Isabella no Koten Sanpo,” and she also served as a visiting professor at Saga Women’s Junior College. In “Nayande Mogaite, Sakka ni Natta Kanojotachi,” she examined the lives and works of ten modern Japanese women writers in relation to constraints involving income, employment, and family circumstances. In “Furin ga Suki na Bungotachi,” she traced literary depictions of adultery from classical writing to the postwar period, relating changing ideas about love and values to the era of criminalised adultery and the subsequent boom in stories of extramarital affairs.
