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Ichiyō Higuchi

樋口一葉 1872-05-02 – 1896-11-23 日本語版へ

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Biography

Born in Tokyo's Uchisaiwaichō in 1872 to a samurai family. Her real name was Higuchi Natsu (or Natsuko). After her father's death, she supported her mother Taki and younger sister Kuniko amid impoverished circumstances, running a small general store while writing. She studied waka poetry and classical Japanese literature at Nakajima Utako's poetry school "Hagi no Sha" and received mentorship in fiction from Nakarai Tōsui. She debuted in 1892 with "Cherry Blossoms in the Dark" (Yamizakura). In 1894 came "On the Last Day of the Year" (Ōtsugomori), followed by her "miraculous fourteen months" of intensive writing in 1895-96, during which she produced "Child's Play" (Takekurabe), "Troubled Waters" (Nigorie), "The Thirteenth Night" (Jūsanya), "Separate Ways" (Wakaremichi), and "The Sound of the Koto". Praised by Mori Ōgai, Kōda Rohan, and Saitō Ryokuu, her home in Hongō Maruyama-Fukuyama became a literary salon. She died of tuberculosis in 1896 at age 24. As the foremost female writer of the Meiji era, she was selected for the portrait on the 5,000-yen banknote in 2004.

Literary Schools / Movements

Romanticism

Publication Venues (7 venues)Click to filter works by venue

Selected Works (30 works recorded in Aozora Bunko)

  • 闇桜 (Yami Sakura) (1892)
  • 別れ霜 (Wakarejimo) (1892)
  • たま襻 (Tama) (1892)
  • 五月雨 (Samidare) (1892)
  • 経つくゑ (Kei Tsuku E) (1892)
  • 暁月夜 (Akatsuki Tsukiyo) (1893)
  • 雪の日 (Yuki no Hi) (1893)
  • 琴の音 (Kin no Oto) (1893)
  • 花ごもり (Hana Go Mori) (1894)
  • 暗夜 (Anya) (1894)
  • 大つごもり (On the Last Day of the Year) (1894)
  • たけくらべ (Child's Play (Takekurabe)) (1895)
  • 軒もる月 (Noki Moru Tsuki) (1895)
  • ゆく雲 (Passing Clouds) (1895)
  • うつせみ (Cicada Shell) (1895)
  • にごりえ (Nigori E) (1895)
  • 十三夜 (The Thirteenth Night) (1895)
  • この子 (Kono Ko) (1896)
  • わかれ道 (Separate Ways) (1896)
  • うらむらさき (Ura Murasa Ki) (1896)
  • われから (Ware Kara) (1896)
  • あきあはせ (Aki A wa Se) (—)
  • さをのしづく (Sa o Noshi Zuku) (—)
  • すゞろごと (Suzu Ro Goto) (—)
  • ゆく雲 (Yuku Kumo) (—)
  • わかれ道 (Wakaremichi) (—)
  • 反古しらべ (Hogo Shirabe) (—)
  • 大つごもり (Ōtsugomori) (—)
  • 月の夜 (Tsuki no Yoru) (—)
  • 雨の夜 (Ame no Yoru) (—)

References