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Bangiku (short Story)
, translated into English as ''A Late Chrysanthemum'' and ''Late Chrysanthemum'', is a short story by Japanese writer Fumiko Hayashi, first published in 1948. It received the Women's Literary Award the same year and was later adapted into a film. The story describes an ageing ex-geisha who makes preparations to meet a former lover while reflecting on her past life. Plot 56-year-old ex-geisha Kin receives a phone call from her former lover Tabe, with whom she had a passionate affair before he was drafted as an officer into the Pacific War. While making preparations for meeting the much younger Tabe, eager to look as youthful as possible, she reflects on her past life. Fleeing from an abusive acquaintance of her adoptive parents, she became a geisha, whose portrait was even printed on magazine covers and postcards, and based her relationships with men mainly on materialistic terms. Kin survived the war as an owner of a house and now makes her income as a money lender and by specula ...
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John Bester
John Bester (1927-2010), born and educated in England, was one of the foremost translators of modern Japanese fiction. He was a graduate of the University of London's School of Oriental and African Studies. Works * ''Classic Bonsai of Japan'' (New York: Kodansha International, 1989, ). Translations Among his translations are: * ''Masterworks of Ukiyo-E: Utamaro'' by Muneshige Narazaki and Sadao Kikuchi (translation published in 1968). * '' Black Rain'' by Masuji Ibuse (translation published in 1969). * '' Sun and Steel'' by Yukio Mishima (autobiography, translation published in 1970). * ''The Waiting Years'' by Fumiko Enchi (translation published in 1971). * ''The Anatomy of Dependence'' by Takeo Doi (translation published in 1973). * ''The Silent Cry'' by Kenzaburō Ōe (translation published in 1974). * '' The Dark Room'' by Junnosuke Yoshiyuki (translation published in 1975). * ''The Reluctant Admiral'' by Hiroyuki Agawa (biography of Isoroku Yamamoto, commander in chief ...
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Fumiko Hayashi (author)
was a Japanese writer of novels, short stories and poetry, who is included in the feminist literature canon. Among her best-known works are ''Diary of a Vagabond'', '' Late Chrysanthemum'' and ''Floating Clouds''. Biography Hayashi was born in Moji-ku, Kitakyūshū, Japan, and raised in abject poverty. In 1910, her mother Kiku Hayashi divorced her merchant husband Mayaro Miyata (who was not Fumiko's biological father) and married Kisaburo Sawai. The family then worked as itinerant merchants in Kyūshū. After graduating from high school in 1922, Hayashi moved to Tokyo and lived with several men, supporting herself with a variety of jobs, before settling into marriage with painting student Rokubin Tezuka in 1926. During this time, she also helped launch the poetry magazine ''Futari''. Her autobiographical novel ''Diary of a Vagabond'' (''Hōrōki''), published in 1930, became a bestseller and gained her high popularity. Many of her subsequent works also showed an autobiograph ...
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Bungei Shunjū
Bungei may refer to: * ''Bungei'' (magazine), a Japanese literary magazine * The Bungei Prize, a literary prize of Japan, awarded by ''Bungei'' * Bungeishunjū, a Japanese publishing company known for its literary magazine of the same name * Wilfred Bungei, Kenyan middle-distance runner *''Clerodendrum bungei ''Clerodendrum bungei'', commonly known as rose glory bower, glory flower or Mexican hydrangea (though not a true ''Hydrangea'' and not from Mexico), is a species of flowering plant in the deadnettle family, Lamiaceae. Native to China, it is comm ...
'', an ornamental shrub native to China {{disambig ...
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Geisha
{{Culture of Japan, Traditions, Geisha {{nihongo, Geisha, 芸者 ({{IPAc-en, ˈ, ɡ, eɪ, ʃ, ə; {{IPA-ja, ɡeːɕa, lang), also known as {{nihongo, , 芸子, geiko (in Kyoto and Kanazawa) or {{nihongo, , 芸妓, geigi, are a class of female Japanese performing artists and entertainers trained in traditional Japanese performing arts styles, such as dance, music and singing, as well as being proficient conversationalists and hosts. Their distinct appearance is characterised by long, trailing kimono, traditional hairstyles and {{transliteration, ja, oshiroi make-up. Geisha entertain at parties known as {{transliteration, ja, ozashiki, often for the entertainment of wealthy clientele, as well as performing on stage and at festivals. Modern geisha are not prostitutes. This misconception originated due to the conflation of Japanese courtesans ({{transliteration, ja, oiran), {{transliteration, ja, oiran reenactors, the extant {{transliteration, ja, tayū, and prostitutes, w ...
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Pacific War
The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War, was the Theater (warfare), theater of World War II that was fought in Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and Oceania. It was geographically the largest theater of the war, including the vast Pacific Ocean theatre of World War II, Pacific Ocean theater, the South West Pacific theatre of World War II, South West Pacific theater, the Second Sino-Japanese War, and the Soviet–Japanese War. The Second Sino-Japanese War between the Empire of Japan and the Republic of China (1912–49), Republic of China had been in progress since 7 July 1937, with hostilities dating back as far as 19 September 1931 with the Japanese invasion of Manchuria. However, it is more widely accepted that the Pacific War itself began on 7 December (8 December Japanese time) 1941, when the Japanese simultaneously Japanese invasion of Thailand, invaded Thailand, attacked the British colonies of Malayan Campaign, Malaya, Battle of Singapore, ...
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Shinchōsha
is a publisher founded in 1896 in Japan and headquartered in Yaraichō, Shinjuku, Tokyo. Shinchosha is one of the sponsors of the Japan Fantasy Novel Award. Books * Haruki Murakami: ''Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World'' (1985), ''Uten Enten'' (1990), ''The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle'' (1997), '' After the quake'' (2000), ''1Q84'' (2009-2010) * Alex Kerr: ''Lost Japan'' (1993) Book series Magazines Weekly * – since 1956 * – manga, discontinued in 2010 * ''Focus'' – suspended Monthly * – Literary magazine since 1904 * * * ''nicola'' * (suspended) * * * * ''ENGINE'' – Automobile magazine, since 2000 * '' Foresight'' – Japanese edition discontinued in 2010 * - manga, since 2011 Web magazine * '' Foresight'' – Japanese edition since 2010 * ''Daily Shinchō'' – comprehensive news site basically excerpting from ''Shukan Shincho'' since 2015 Seasonal * ''Grave of the Fireflies'' In 1967, Shinchosha published a short story ''Grave of the Fir ...
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The Japan Times
''The Japan Times'' is Japan's largest and oldest English-language daily newspaper. It is published by , a subsidiary of News2u Holdings, Inc.. It is headquartered in the in Kioicho, Chiyoda, Tokyo. History ''The Japan Times'' was launched by Motosada Zumoto on 22 March 1897, with the goal of giving Japanese people an opportunity to read and discuss news and current events in English to help Japan to participate in the international community. The newspaper was independent of government control, but from 1931 onward, the paper's editors experienced mounting pressure from the Japanese government to submit to its policies. In 1933, the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs appointed Hitoshi Ashida, former ministry official, as chief editor. During World War II, the newspaper served as an outlet for Imperial Japanese government communication and editorial opinion. It was successively renamed ''The Japan Times and Mail'' (1918–1940) following its merger with ''The Japan ...
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Late Chrysanthemums
is a 1954 Japanese drama film directed by Mikio Naruse. It follows four retired geisha and their struggles to make ends meet in post World War II Japan. The film is based on three short stories by female author Fumiko Hayashi. Plot ''Late Chrysanthemums'' interweaves the lives of four retired geisha in Tokyo over a period of four successive days. Kin, the first of the geisha, is a moneylender and a merciless businesswoman, who is insistent upon being repaid by her former geisha sisters Tamae, Tomi and Nobu. Her financial advisor Itaya tries to convince her to buy land in the countryside, as prices are constantly rising. Tamae and Tomi, both former geisha and widows, live together. Tamae is plagued by migraines, and as a result, unable to work as frequently as she would like to as a maid in a hotel. She is also unhappy with her son Kiyoshi's relationship with an older mistress, who pays him for being at her service. Tomi is unable to repay her debts as a result of her addicti ...
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Sumie Tanaka
was a Japanese screenwriter and playwright with a feminist agenda. She was a long-time collaborator of film director Mikio Naruse and wrote screenplays for Japan's first major female director Kinuyo Tanaka. A member of the Bungakuza theatre company, she was married to dramatist Chikao Tanaka. Awards she received for her work include the Blue Ribbon Award, the Ministry of Education Award for Arts and the Yomiuri Prize for Literature. Life and career Sumie Tanaka was born in Tokyo and graduated from Tokyo Women’s Higher Normal School in 1932. During her student years, she had published her works in Kidō Okamoto's magazine ''Butai'' (舞台, engl. "Stage") and ''Iteki'' (夷狄, engl. "Barbarians"), and participated in the playwright workshops run by Kunio Kishida and Kan Kikuchi. After her graduation, she first worked as a teacher. In 1934, she married her fellow playwright Chikao Tanaka, with whom she wrote plays for the Bungakuza theatre company. In her one-act plays l ...
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Mikio Naruse
was a Japanese filmmaker who directed 89 films spanning the period 1930 to 1967. Naruse is known for imbuing his films with a bleak and pessimistic outlook. He made primarily shomin-geki ("common people drama") films with female protagonists, portrayed by actresses such as Hideko Takamine, Kinuyo Tanaka, and Setsuko Hara. Because of his focus on family drama and the intersection of traditional and modern Japanese culture, his films have been compared with the works of Yasujirō Ozu. Many of his films in his later career were adaptations of the works of acknowledged Japanese writers. Titled a "major figure of Japan's golden age" and "supremely intelligent dramatist", he remains lesser known than his contemporaries Akira Kurosawa, Kenji Mizoguchi, and Ozu. Among his most noted films are ''Sound of the Mountain'', ''Late Chrysanthemums'', ''Floating Clouds'' and ''When A Woman Ascends The Stairs''. Biography Early years Mikio Naruse was born in Tokyo in 1905 and raised by his brot ...
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1948 Short Stories
Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The Constitution of New Jersey (later subject to amendment) goes into effect. ** The railways of Britain are nationalized, to form British Railways. * January 4 – Burma gains its independence from the United Kingdom, becoming an independent republic, named the ''Union of Burma'', with Sao Shwe Thaik as its first President, and U Nu its first Prime Minister. * January 5 ** Warner Brothers shows the first color newsreel (''Tournament of Roses Parade'' and the ''Rose Bowl Game''). ** The first Kinsey Report, ''Sexual Behavior in the Human Male'', is published in the United States. * January 7 – Mantell UFO incident: Kentucky Air National Guard pilot Thomas Mantell crashes while in pursuit of an unidentified flying object. * January 12 – Mahatma Gandhi begins his fast-unto-death in Delhi, to stop communal violence during the Partition of India. * January 17 & ...
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Japanese Short Stories
Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspora, Japanese emigrants and their descendants around the world * Japanese citizens, nationals of Japan under Japanese nationality law ** Foreign-born Japanese, naturalized citizens of Japan * Japanese writing system, consisting of kanji and kana * Japanese cuisine, the food and food culture of Japan See also * List of Japanese people * * Japonica (other) * Japonicum * Japonicus This list of Latin and Greek words commonly used in systematic names is intended to help those unfamiliar with classical languages to understand and remember the scientific names of organisms. The binomial nomenclature used for animals and plants i ... * Japanese studies {{disambiguation Language and nationality disambiguation pages ...
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