Shizuko Tōdō is a Japanese novelist and essayist. She is best known for writing the novel , which won the 1988

Naoki Prize 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 ...

Biography

Tōdō was born Masae Kumagai on September 14, 1949 in

Hokkaido is the list of islands of Japan by area, second-largest island of Japan and comprises the largest and northernmost prefectures of Japan, prefecture, making up its own list of regions of Japan, region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō fr ...

, Japan. She grew up in ill health, so she spent a lot of time reading and writing as a child. She especially enjoyed writing poetry. Her first collection of poems was published while she was attending Fuji Women's Junior College. After graduation she went on to work at a

life insurance Life insurance (or life assurance, especially in the Commonwealth of Nations) is a contract A contract is an agreement that specifies certain legally enforceable rights and obligations pertaining to two or more parties. A contract typical ...

company, then an

advertising agency An advertising agency, often referred to as a creative agency or an ad agency, is a business dedicated to creating, planning, and handling advertising and sometimes other forms of promotion and marketing for its clients. An ad agency is generall ...

. Tōdo published several works under her birth name from 1978 onwards. Her first novel she released under her penname was called . It was published in 1987. It won the Hokkaido Shinbun Prize and was shortlisted for the Naoki Prize. It was later adapted into a film in 1990. Tōdo left the advertising agency soon after the publication of ''Madonna no Gotoku''. During the same year, she won the Naoki Prize for her work . Her publisher initially printed 8,000 copies of the book, but after the announcement of the award they decided to print 50,000 more. Tōdō went on to win many other awards as well. In 2001 she won the for her book (''Song of Sunday''). In 2003 she won the for her novel . Tōdō's works are largely romances featuring women who don't believe that the men that they are with will be faithful. Writer Sachiko Schierbeck also points out that there is a hint of lesbianism in Tōdō's stories, which is unusual for Japanese fiction.

Selected works

* , 1988 * , 1988 * , 2001 * , 2003

References

1949 births Living people Writers from Hokkaido Naoki Prize winners {{DEFAULTSORT:Tōdō, Shizuko 20th-century Japanese novelists