Philip Gabriel teaches modern Japanese literature, humanities, and popular culture at the University of Arizona (East Asian Studies Dept.).

He translated some of Murakamis short stories, 'South of the Border, West of the Sun', 'Underground' and other Japanese authors like Masahiko Shimada, Senji Kuroi and Kenzabue Oe.

For some of his translations he was awarded the Keene Center of Japanese Culture prize.

His own works include 'Mad Wives and Island Dreams: Shimao Toshio and the Margins of Japanese Literature' (University of Hawaii, 1999), and 'Oe and Beyond: Fiction in Contemporary Japan' (University of Hawaii, 1999).