Biography
Early life and career
Born in Nagasaki to young, unmarried parents (her father was 18, her mother 15), the family moved to Tokyo while she was still a child. Her first job was in a caramel factory, but she later went on to work in restaurants where she befriended several writers, including Ryūnosuke Akutagawa. In 1922, her poems were published for the first time in the magazine ''Shi to jinsei'' ("Poetry and life"). Working at the Koroku café-bar in Hongo near Tokyo University, she met Shigeharu Nakano, who would remain a lifelong friend. Along with left-wing writers Tatsuo Hori and Tsurujirō Kubokawa, Nakano ran the progressive literary magazine ''Roba'' ("Donkey"). Nakano urged Sata to write her first short story, '' Kyarameru kōjō kara'' ("From the Caramel Factory"), which was based on her own experiences and published in 1928. Taking her second husband Tsurujirō Kubokawa's family name and slightly modifying her first name, she published her work as Ineko Kubokawa until around 1940. While praised by writers like Yasunari Kawabata for drawing on modernist literary techniques, Sata became increasing involved in issues related to workers and the labor movement. In 1929, she spoke out against the treatment of women workers in cigarette factories. In 1931, she defended the striking workers of the Tokyo Muslin Factory. As a member of the Proletarian Literature Movement, she wrote a series of stories about the lives of ordinary working men and women. These included ''Kyosei kikoku'' ("Compulsory Extradition"), about the rights of migrant Korean workers, and ''Tears of a Factory Girl in the Union Leadership'' (''Kanbu joko no namida''), both published in 1931. In 1932, she joined the outlawed Japan Communist Party (JCP). She became close to JCP leaders Kenji Miyamoto and Takiji Kobayashi, the former imprisoned until 1945, the latter tortured to death by police in 1933. Sata's strong opinions were also often at odds with the official Communist Party platform. In 1935, she was arrested for anti-war activism and spent two months in jail. This experience is described in part in her 1936–38 novel '' Crimson'' (''Kurenai''), a fictionalised account of her marriage and the struggles of being a mother, wife and professional writer. By 1940, Sata, like Fumiko Hayashi, eventually collaborated with the authorities, publishing both diaries of her travels in Korea and Manchuria and "home front" stories in support of the Japanese war effort, for which she later faced criticism by former associates.Later career
In 1945, with the end of theSelected works
The year refers to the first publication. * 1928: '' Kyarameru kōjō kara'' * 1929: ''Café Kyoto'' (''Resutoran Rakuyō'') * 1931: ''Tears of a Factory Girl in the Union Leadership'' (''Kanbu joko no namida'') * 1931: ''Kyosei kikoku'' * 1936–38: '' Crimson'' (''Kurenai'') * 1940: ''Suashi no musume'' * 1942: ''Kō ni niou'' (short story collection) * 1949: ''Watashi no Tōkyō chizu'' * 1950: ''White and Purple'' (''Shiro to murasaki'') * 1955: ''Kikai no naka no seishun'' * 1955: ''Memory of a Night'' (''Yoru no kioku'') * 1958–59: ''Sata Ineko shū'' (collected works) * 1959: ''Hai iro no gogo'' * 1961: ''The Colorless Paintings'' (''Iro no nai e'') * 1963: ''Onna no yado'' (short story collection) * 1964: ''Keiryu'' * 1966: ''Sozō'' * 1970: ''Omoki nagare ni'' * 1972: ''Juei'' * 1972: ''The Inn of Dancing Snow'' (''Yuki no mau yado'') * 1975: ''Toki ni tatsu'' (short story collection) * 1977–1979: ''Sata Ineko zenshū'' (complete works) * 1983: ''Natsu no Shiori – Nakano Shigeharu o okuru'' * 1986: ''Camellia Blossoms on the Little Mountain'' (''Chiisana yama to tsubaki no hana'')Awards
* 1963: Women's Literature Award for ''Onna no yado'' * 1972: Noma Literary Prize for ''Juei'' * 1976: Kawabata Yasunari Literature Award for ''Toki ni tatsu (11)'' * 1983: Asahi Prize for her complete work * 1983: Mainichi Art Award for ''Natsu no Shiori – Nakano Shigeharu o okuru''Translations
Most of Sata's work was translated into Russian in the 1960s and 1970s, and selected stories have been translated into French and German. English translations include: * * * * * * * * * * * *Adaptations
Some of Sata's stories were adapted into films, including: * 1956: ''Kodomo no me'', director Yoshirō Kawazu * 1957: ''Suashi no musume'', director Yutaka Abe * 1965: ''Ane to imōto'', director Yoshirō KawazuNotes
References
External links
*Further reading
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sata, Ineko 1904 births 1998 deaths Japanese writers Japanese communists Japanese Marxist writers People from Nagasaki Japanese socialist feminists