Ichiyō Higuchi
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, known by her
pen name A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...
, was a Japanese writer during the
Meiji era The was an Japanese era name, era of History of Japan, Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868, to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feu ...
. She was Japan's first professional woman writer of modern literature, specializing in short stories and poetry, and was also an extensive
diarist A diary is a writing, written or audiovisual Memorabilia, memorable record, with discrete entries arranged by Calendar date, date reporting on what has happened over the course of a day or other period. Diaries have traditionally been handwriti ...
. Her portrait appears on the 5000 yen banknote in Japan.


Biography


Early life

Higuchi was born in
Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...
on 2 May 1872 as the fourth child and second daughter of Noriyoshi Higuchi, a
samurai The samurai () were members of the warrior class in Japan. They were originally provincial warriors who came from wealthy landowning families who could afford to train their men to be mounted archers. In the 8th century AD, the imperial court d ...
, and Ayame "Taki" Furuya. Official documentation states her name as Natsuko Higuchi, though she would often refer to herself as . Her parents were from a peasant community in nearby
Yamanashi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Yamanashi Prefecture has a population of 787,592 (1 February 2025) and has a geographic area of 4,465 km2 (1,724 sq mi). Yamanashi Prefecture borders Saitama Prefecture to the n ...
, but her father had managed to procure samurai status in 1867. Despite only enjoying the position for a short time before the samurai caste was abolished with the
Meiji Restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored Imperial House of Japan, imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Althoug ...
, growing up in a samurai household was a formative experience for her. In 1886, she began studying waka poetry at the Haginoya, a private school run by Utako Nakajima. There, she received weekly poetry lessons and lectures on Japanese literature. There were also monthly poetry competitions in which all students, previous and current, were invited to participate. Poetry taught at this school was that of the conservative court poets of the
Heian period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kammu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means in Japanese. It is a ...
. She felt inferior and unprepossessing among the other students, the great majority of whom came from the upper-class. Her compulsion to write became evident by 1891 when she began to keep a diary in earnest. It would become hundreds of pages long, covering five years left of her life. With her feelings of social inferiority, her timidity, and the increasing poverty of her family, her diary was the place where she could assert herself. Her diaries were also a place for her to assert objectivity and included her views on literary art as well as others' views on her work.


Efforts to become a writer

In 1889, two years after her oldest brother's death, her father died. Following a failed business investment by her father, finances were very tight. Her fiancé (who later became a prosecutor, a judge, and the governor of
Akita Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Provinces and prefectures" in ; "Tōhoku" in . Its population is estimated 915,691 as of 1 August 2023 and its geographi ...
) soon broke off their engagement. At the proposal of her teacher, she moved into the Haginoya as an apprentice, but left after a few months due to being unhappy with what she saw as an inordinate amount of household duties. Together with her mother and younger sister Kuniko, she moved to Hongō district, where the women earned their income by sewing and laundry work. Seeing the success of a classmate, Kaho Miyake, who had written a novel, ''Yabu no uguisu'' (lit. "Bush warbler in the grove", 1888) and received abundant royalties, Higuchi decided to become a novelist to support her family. Her initial efforts at writing fiction were in the form of a short story. In 1891, she met her future advisor, Tōsui Nakarai, who she assumed would help connect her with editors. She fell in love with him without knowing that, at 31, he had a reputation as a womanizer, nor did she realize that he wrote popular literature which aimed to please the general public and in no way wished to be associated with serious literature. Her mentor did not return her love, and instead treated her as a younger sister. This failed relationship would become a recurrent theme in Higuchi's fiction. In March 1892, she gave her literary debut with the story ''Yamizakura'' (''Flowers at Dusk''), published in the first issue of the magazine ''Musashino'', under her pen name Higuchi Ichiyō. The stories from this first period (1892–1894) suffered from the excessive influence of Heian poetry. Higuchi felt compelled to demonstrate her classical literary training. The plots were thin, there was little development of character, and they were loaded down by excessive sentiment, especially when compared to what she was writing concurrently in her diary. However, her style developed rapidly. Several of her trademark themes appear: for example, the triangular relationship among a lonely, beautiful, young woman who has lost her parents, a handsome man who has abandoned her (and remains in the background), and a lonely and desperate ragamuffin who falls in love with her. Another theme Higuchi repeated was the ambition and cruelty of the Meiji middle class. The story ''Umoregi'' (lit. "In Obscurity") signaled Higuchi's arrival as a professional writer. It was published in the prestigious journal '' Miyako no hana'' in November and December 1892, only nine months after she had started writing in earnest. Her work was noticed, and she was recognized as a promising new author.


Last years

In 1893, Higuchi, her mother, and her sister abandoned their middle-class house and moved to a poor neighborhood where they opened a stationery store that failed. Their new dwelling was a five-minute walk from Tokyo's red-light district
Yoshiwara was a famous ( red-light district) in Edo, present-day Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1617, Yoshiwara was one of three licensed and well-known red-light districts created during the early 17th century by the Tokugawa shogunate, alongside Shim ...
. Her experience living in this neighborhood would provide material for several of her later stories, especially '' Takekurabe'', (lit. "Comparing heights"; ''Child's Play'' in the Robert Lyons Danly translation, ''Growing Up'' in the Edward Seidensticker translation). The stories of her mature period (1894–1896) were not only marked by her experience living near the red-light district and greater concern over the plight of women, but also by the influence of Ihara Saikaku, a 17th-century writer, whose stories she had recently discovered. His distinctiveness lay in great part in his acceptance of low-life characters as worthwhile literary subjects. What Higuchi added was a special awareness of suffering and sensitivity. To this period belong '' Ōtsugomori'' (''On the Last Day of the Year''), '' Nigorie'' (''Troubled Waters''), '' Jūsan'ya'' (''The Thirteenth Night''), ''Takekurabe,'' and ''Wakaremichi'' (''Separate Ways''). With these last stories, her fame spread throughout the Tokyo literary establishment. She was commended for her traditional style and was called "the last woman of the old Meiji" in reflection of her evocation of the past. In her modest home, she was visited by other writers, students of poetry, admirers, critics, and editors requesting her collaboration. Due to constant interruptions and frequent headaches, Higuchi stopped writing. As her father and her oldest brother had before her, she contracted
tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...
. She died on 23 November 1896 at the age of 24. She was buried in Tsukiji Hongan-ji Wadabori Cemetery in
Suginami is a Special wards of Tokyo, special ward in the Tokyo, Tokyo Metropolis in Japan. The ward refers to itself as Suginami City in English. As of June 1, 2022, Suginami has an estimated population of 588,354 and a population density of 17,274 pe ...
, Tokyo.


Selected works

At the time of her death, Higuchi left behind 21 short stories, nearly 4,000 poems (which are regarded being of lesser quality than her prose), numerous essays and a multivolume diary. The year refers to the date of first publication.


Short stories

*1892: ''Yamizakura'' (, ''Flowers at Dusk'') *1892: ''Wakarejimo'' (, ''Farewell Frost'') *1892: ''Tamadasuki'' (, ''Jeweled Sleeve Band'') *1892: ''Samidare'' (, ''Early Summer Rain'' or ''May Rain'') *1892: ''Kyōzukue'' (, ''Sutra Writing'') *1892: ''Umoregi'' (, ''In Obscurity'') *1893: ''Akatsuki-zukuyo'' (, ''Dawn Moonlit Night'') *1893: ''Yuki no hi'' (, ''A Snowy Day'') *1893: ''Koto no ne'' (, ''The Sound of the Koto'') *1894: ''Hanagomori'' (, ''Clouds in Springtime'') *1894: '' Yamiyo'' (, ''Encounters on a Dark Night'') *1894: '' Ōtsugomori'' (, ''On the Last Day of the Year'' or ''The Last Day of the Year'') *1895: '' Takekurabe'' (, ''Child's Play'', ''Growing Up'', ''They Compare Heights'' or ''Teenagers Vying for Tops'') *1895: ''Noki moru tsuki'' (, ''The Eaves Moon'') *1895: ''Yuku kumo'' (, ''Passing Clouds'') *1895: ''Utsusemi'' (, ''Temporary'') *1895: '' Nigorie'' (, ''Troubled Waters'', ''Muddy Water'' or ''In the Gutter'') *1895: '' Jūsan'ya'' (, ''The Thirteenth Night'') *1896: ''Kono ko'' (, ''This Child'') *1896: ''Wakaremichi'' (, ''Separate Ways'' or ''The Parting of the Ways'') *1896: ''Ware kara'' (, ''From Me'')


Translations

Higuchi's stories have been translated into a variety of languages. The first English translation dates back as early as 1903 (''Ōtsugomori'', as ''The Last Day of the Year'', by Tei Fujio). In 1981, a selection of nine of her stories appeared with new translations provided by Robert Lyons Danly. Some stories have also been translated from
classical Japanese language The , also called and sometimes simply called "Medieval Japanese", is the literary form of the Japanese language that was the standard until the early Shōwa period (1926–1989). It is based on Early Middle Japanese, the language as spoken ...
, in which all of Higuchi's works are written, into modern Japanese, like Hiromi Itō's translation of ''Nigorie'' or
Fumiko Enchi Fumiko Ueda (上田 富美, ''Ueda Fumiko''; 2 October 1905 – 12 November 1986), known by her pen name , was a Japanese writer and playwright known for her explorations into the ideas of sexuality, gender, human identity (philosophy), identity, ...
's translation of ''Takekurabe''.


Legacy

Higuchi's portrait adorns the Japanese 5000 yen banknote as of fall 2004, becoming the third woman to appear on a Japanese banknote, after
Empress Jingū was a Legend, legendary Japanese empress who ruled as a regent following her Emperor Chūai, husband's death in 200 AD. Both the and the (collectively known as the ''Kiki'') record events that took place during Jingū's alleged lifetime. Legen ...
in 1881 and
Murasaki Shikibu was a Japanese novelist, Japanese poetry#Age of Nyobo or court ladies, poet and lady-in-waiting at the Imperial Court in Kyoto, Imperial court in the Heian period. She was best known as the author of ''The Tale of Genji'', widely considered t ...
in 2000. Her stories ''Ōtsugomori'', ''Nigorie'', ''Jūsan'ya'' and ''Takekurabe'' have been repeatedly adapted for film and television, notably '' An Inlet of Muddy Water'' (1953, dir.
Tadashi Imai was a Japanese film director known for social realist filmmaking informed by a left-wing perspective. His most noted films include '' An Inlet of Muddy Water'' (1953) and '' Bushido, Samurai Saga'' (1963). Life Although leaning towards left-win ...
) and '' Takekurabe'' (1955, dir.
Heinosuke Gosho was a Japanese film director and screenwriter who directed Japan's first successful sound film, '' The Neighbor's Wife and Mine'', in 1931. His films are mostly associated with the shōshimin-eiga (lit. "common people drama") genre. Among his ...
). A film based on Higuchi's life, ''Higuchi Ichiyō'', was released in 1939, starring Isuzu Yamada and directed by Kyotaro Namiki. Higuchi was also the protagonist of a theatre play by Hisashi Inoue, ''Zutsuu katakori Higuchi Ichiyō'', which was first performed in 1984.


References

;Bibliography * * * * * * *


Further reading

* *


External links

* *
"Ōtsugomori: The Last Day of the Year" (story) df online">"Ōtsugomori: The Last Day of the Year" (story) [pdf online
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/nowiki>">df online">"Ōtsugomori: The Last Day of the Year" (story) [pdf online
/nowiki> {{DEFAULTSORT:Higuchi, Ichiyo 1872 births 1896 deaths People from Chiyoda, Tokyo Writers from Tokyo 19th-century deaths from tuberculosis 19th-century Japanese novelists Tuberculosis deaths in Japan People of the Meiji era Japanese women short story writers 19th-century Japanese women writers 19th-century Japanese diarists Women diarists