Michiko Nagai
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; (March 31, 1925 – January 27, 2023) was a Japanese
historical fiction Historical fiction is a literary genre in which a fictional plot takes place in the Setting (narrative), setting of particular real past events, historical events. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literatur ...
writer. Her real name is .


Biography

Born on March 31, 1925, in the Hongō ward of
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 ...
to and singer , Nagai graduated from the
Tokyo Women's University , often abbreviated to TWCU or , is an independent Protestant university in Tokyo, Japan. Founding TWCU was established by Nitobe Inazō (1862–1933), an author, diplomat and educator, who was appointed as the first president in 1918. The firs ...
with a degree in
Japanese literature Japanese literature throughout most of its history has been influenced by cultural contact with neighboring Asian literatures, most notably China and its literature. Early texts were often written in pure Classical Chinese or , a Chinese-Japa ...
in 1944. She also studied economic history at the
University of Tokyo The University of Tokyo (, abbreviated as in Japanese and UTokyo in English) is a public research university in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1877 as the nation's first modern university by the merger of several pre-westernisation era ins ...
from 1947 to 1948. After her marriage to Nobuo Kuroita, the son of historian Kuroita Katsumi, she went to work as an editor for the publishing company
Shogakukan is a Japanese publisher of comics, magazines, light novels, dictionaries, literature, non-fiction, home media, and other media in Japan. Shogakukan founded Shueisha, which also founded Hakusensha. These are three separate companies, but ...
. Still, she began to write her own stories with historical settings on the side. In 1952, she submitted her debut work, ''Sanjoin ki'' ("History of Lady Sanjo"), to the ''Sunday Mainichi'', where it was awarded second place in that publication's 30th anniversary commemorative edition. This encouraged her to pursue a career in literature full-time, winning the prestigious
Naoki Award The Naoki Prize, officially , is a Japanese literary award presented biannually. It was created in 1935 by Kikuchi Kan, then editor of the ''Bungeishunjū'' magazine, and named in memory of novelist Naoki Sanjugo. Sponsored by the Society for the ...
in 1964, the 21st Women's Culture Award in 1982, the 32nd
Kikuchi Kan Prize The honors achievement in all aspects of Japanese literary culture. It was named in honor of Kikuchi Kan. The prize is presented annually by the literary magazine '' Bungei Shunjū'' and the Society for the Promotion of Japanese Literature. Histo ...
in 1984, and the Yoshikawa Eiji Literary Award. Nagai was noted for
historical novel Historical fiction is a literary genre in which a fictional plot takes place in the setting of particular real historical events. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literature, it can also be applied to oth ...
s reassessing the role of women in
Japanese history The first human inhabitants of the Japanese archipelago have been traced to the Paleolithic, around 38–39,000 years ago. The Jōmon period, named after its cord-marked pottery, was followed by the Yayoi period in the first millennium BC when ...
, deviating from the traditional narrative. She has been praised for combining historical accuracy with translating her character's emotions into modern terms. In ''Hōjō Masako'', she countered the popular image of
Minamoto no Yoritomo was the founder and the first shogun of the Kamakura shogunate, ruling from 1192 until 1199, also the first ruling shogun in the history of Japan.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Minamoto no Yoriie" in . He was the husband of Hōjō Masako ...
's jealous, power-grasping wife
Hōjō Masako was a Japanese politician who exercised significant power in the early years of the Kamakura period, which was reflected by her contemporary sobriquet of the "nun shogun". She was the wife of Minamoto no Yoritomo, and mother of Minamoto no Yori ...
(1157–1225) with a more human, sympathetic personality. Her novel was the basis for a yearlong
television drama In film and television show, television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or docudrama, semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humour, humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional te ...
on the Japanese government
television network A television broadcaster or television network is a telecommunications network for the distribution of television show, television content, where a central operation provides programming to many television stations, pay television providers or ...
NHK , also known by its Romanization of Japanese, romanized initialism NHK, is a Japanese public broadcasting, public broadcaster. It is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television licence, television license fee. NHK ope ...
in 1979. Likewise, in ''Gin no yakata'' ("Silver Mansion," 1980), she rehabilitated the image of
Hino Tomiko was a prominent figure during the Muromachi period and the beginning of the Sengoku period. She was daughter to Hino Shigemasa and was the official wife of Ashikaga Yoshimasa, the eighth ''shōgun'' of the Ashikaga shogunate (at first Tomik ...
(1440–1496), wife of the ineffectual ''
shōgun , officially , was the title of the military rulers of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, except during parts of the Kamak ...
''
Ashikaga Yoshimasa "Ashikaga Yoshimasa" in ''Encyclopædia Britannica, The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th edn., 1992, Vol. 1, p. 625. was the eighth ''shōgun'' of the Ashikaga shogunate who reigned from 1449 to 1473 du ...
. Historically scorned as an "evil money-grubbing woman" who dragged the country into war, Nagai's portrayal is of a woman who is the savior of the government and skilled at finance and politics. However, her writing was not entirely on the role of women. In 1997, NHK aired a year-long historical drama in 50 episodes,
Mōri Motonari was a prominent ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) in the western Chūgoku region of Japan during the Sengoku period of the 16th century. The Mōri clan claimed descent from Ōe no Hiromoto (大江広元), an adviser to Minamoto no Yoritomo. Motonari w ...
, on the life of the Sengoku-period ''
daimyō were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji era, Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and no ...
'', based on Nagai's book of the same name. Nagai died on January 27, 2023, at the age of 97.「炎環」「北条政子」作家の永井路子さん死去 97歳


Selected works

* (1964) * (1965) * (1966) * (1967) * (1967 * (1969) * (1969) * (1971) * (1971) * (1971) * (1972) * (1972) * (1972) * (1972) * (1972) * (1972) * (1972) * (1972)


See also

*
Japanese literature Japanese literature throughout most of its history has been influenced by cultural contact with neighboring Asian literatures, most notably China and its literature. Early texts were often written in pure Classical Chinese or , a Chinese-Japa ...
*
List of Japanese authors This is an alphabetical list of writers who are Japanese, or are famous for having written in the Japanese language. Writers are listed by the native order of Japanese names—family name followed by given name—to ensure consistency, although ...


References


Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nagai, Michiko 1925 births 2023 deaths 20th-century Japanese novelists 20th-century Japanese women writers 21st-century Japanese novelists 21st-century Japanese women writers Japanese screenwriters Japanese women novelists Tokyo Woman's Christian University alumni Naoki Prize winners Writers from Tokyo University of Tokyo alumni