Lars Vargö was born in 1947 in Stockholm, Sweden. He has published several books on Japan and Japanese literature and translated Japanese poetry and novels into Swedish. He has a PhD in Japanese studies (1982) from Stockholm University and was a graduate student at Kyoto University 1972-76. As a diplomat he has served at the Swedish embassies in Tokyo, Washington D.C., Tripoli and Vilnius and is presently Ambassador and head of the international department of the Swedish Parliament. He has started several literary magazines and is himself a poet, with publications also in Japanese. He was the recipient of a special grant/award from the Swedish Academy in 1997 and received a cultural award from the city of Ichikawa in 2003. He is himself the initiator of the literary Cikada prize, which in 2005 has been awarded to the Japanese haiku poet Kaneko Tôta.
Lars Vargö was born in 1947 in Stockholm, Sweden. He has published several books on Japan and Japanese literature and translated Japanese poetry and novels into Swedish. He has a PhD in Japanese studies (1982) from Stockholm University and was a graduate student at Kyoto University 1972-76. As a diplomat he has served at the Swedish embassies in Tokyo, Washington D.C., Tripoli and Vilnius and is presently Ambassador and head of the international department of the Swedish Parliament. He has started several literary magazines and is himself a poet, with publications also in Japanese. He was the recipient of a special grant/award from the Swedish Academy in 1997 and received a cultural award from the city of Ichikawa in 2003. He is himself the initiator of the literary Cikada prize, which in 2005 has been awarded to the Japanese haiku poet Kaneko Tôta.