Enchi Fumiko
Encyclopedia
was the pen-name of Fumi Ueda, one of the most prominent Japanese
women writers in the Shōwa period
of Japan
.
district of downtown Tokyo
, as the daughter of distinguished philologist and linguist
Kazutoshi (Mannen) Ueda. Of poor health as a child, she was unable to attend classes in school on a regular basis, so her father decided to keep her at home. She was taught English
, French
and Chinese literature
through private tutors. She was also strongly influenced by her grandmother, who introduced her to the Japanese classics such as The Tale of Genji
, and Kabuki
and Bunraku
theater. At 13, her reading list included the works of Oscar Wilde
, Edgar Allan Poe
, Kyōka Izumi
, Nagai Kafu
, Ryūnosuke Akutagawa
, and especially Jun'ichirō Tanizaki, whose sado-masochistic aestheticism particularly fascinated her.
She also attended the lectures of Kaoru Osanai
, the founder of modern Japanese drama
. In 1930, she married Yoshimatsu Enchi, a journalist
with whom she had a daughter. In 1945 Enchi's home and all her possessions burned during an air raid towards the end of the Pacific War
, and for several years immediately after the war she struggled with uterine cancer
and surgical complications. She had two major operations, a mastectomy
in 1938 and a hysterectomy
in 1946.
In 1953, her novel "Himojii Tsukihi" ("Days of Hunger") was finally received favorably and the following year she won an award from the Society of Women Writers. Her novel is a violent, harrowing tale of family misfortune and physical and emotional deprivation. Her next novel was also highly praised: Onna zaka ("The Waiting Years", 1949–1957) won the Noma Literary Prize
. It analyzes the plight of women who have no alternative but to accept the demeaning role assigned to them in the concubine system. From the 1950s onward, she became quite successful, and wrote numerous novels and short stories exploring female psychology
and sexuality
.
She was awarded the Order of Culture
by the Japanese government in 1985.
Fumiko Enchi died of a heart attack
(this happened while she was eating at a get together or family event) in 1986, and her grave is at Yanaka Cemetery
, Tokyo.
Japanese people
The are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...
women writers in the Shōwa period
Showa period
The , or Shōwa era, is the period of Japanese history corresponding to the reign of the Shōwa Emperor, Hirohito, from December 25, 1926 through January 7, 1989.The Shōwa period was longer than the reign of any previous Japanese emperor...
of Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
.
Early life
Fumiko Enchi was born in the AsakusaAsakusa
is a district in Taitō, Tokyo, Japan, most famous for the Sensō-ji, a Buddhist temple dedicated to the bodhisattva Kannon. There are several other temples in Asakusa, as well as various festivals.- History :...
district of downtown Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
, as the daughter of distinguished philologist and linguist
Linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....
Kazutoshi (Mannen) Ueda. Of poor health as a child, she was unable to attend classes in school on a regular basis, so her father decided to keep her at home. She was taught English
English literature
English literature is the literature written in the English language, including literature composed in English by writers not necessarily from England; for example, Robert Burns was Scottish, James Joyce was Irish, Joseph Conrad was Polish, Dylan Thomas was Welsh, Edgar Allan Poe was American, J....
, French
French literature
French literature is, generally speaking, literature written in the French language, particularly by citizens of France; it may also refer to literature written by people living in France who speak traditional languages of France other than French. Literature written in French language, by citizens...
and Chinese literature
Chinese literature
Chinese literature extends thousands of years, from the earliest recorded dynastic court archives to the mature fictional novels that arose during the Ming Dynasty to entertain the masses of literate Chinese...
through private tutors. She was also strongly influenced by her grandmother, who introduced her to the Japanese classics such as The Tale of Genji
The Tale of Genji
is a classic work of Japanese literature attributed to the Japanese noblewoman Murasaki Shikibu in the early 11th century, around the peak of the Heian period. It is sometimes called the world's first novel, the first modern novel, the first psychological novel or the first novel still to be...
, and Kabuki
Kabuki
is classical Japanese dance-drama. Kabuki theatre is known for the stylization of its drama and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers.The individual kanji characters, from left to right, mean sing , dance , and skill...
and Bunraku
Bunraku
, also known as Ningyō jōruri , is a form of traditional Japanese puppet theater, founded in Osaka in 1684.Three kinds of performers take part in a bunraku performance:* Ningyōtsukai or Ningyōzukai—puppeteers* Tayū—the chanters* Shamisen players...
theater. At 13, her reading list included the works of Oscar Wilde
Oscar Wilde
Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish writer and poet. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of London's most popular playwrights in the early 1890s...
, Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe was an American author, poet, editor and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is considered the inventor of the detective...
, Kyōka Izumi
Kyoka Izumi
is the pen name of a Japanese author of novels, short stories, and kabuki plays who was active from the late Meiji to the early Shōwa periods. He is best known for a characteristic brand of Romanticism preferring tales of the supernatural heavily influenced by works of the earlier Edo period in...
, Nagai Kafu
Nagai Kafu
is the pen name of Japanese author, playwright, essayist, and diarist Nagai Sōkichi . His works are noted for their depictions of life in early 20th-century Tokyo, especially among geisha, prostitutes, cabaret dancers, and other denizens of the city's lively entertainment districts.-Biography:Kafū...
, Ryūnosuke Akutagawa
Ryunosuke Akutagawa
was a Japanese writer active in the Taishō period in Japan. He is regarded as the "Father of the Japanese short story". He committed suicide at age of 35 through an overdose of barbital.-Early life:...
, and especially Jun'ichirō Tanizaki, whose sado-masochistic aestheticism particularly fascinated her.
Literary career
Enchi's literary career began in the 1920s, when she wrote several stage plays that betrayed her sympathies with the proletarian literature movement. Banshun Soya (Noisy Night in Late Spring), her first work, was performed at the Tsukiji Shogekijo. She later began to write fiction but unlike her smooth debut as a playwright, she found it very hard to get her stories published.She also attended the lectures of Kaoru Osanai
Kaoru Osanai
was a Japanese theater director, playwright, and actor central in the development of modern Japanese theater.-Biography:Graduating from Tokyo University, Osanai founded the Free Theater with Ichikawa Sadanji II in 1909 and staged translations of Ibsen, Chekov, and Gorky, but there he experienced...
, the founder of modern Japanese drama
Japanese drama
Japanese drama may refer to:*Japanese television drama or Dorama, about dramatic television shows in Japan*Radio drama in Japan, often related to anime and manga series- See also :...
. In 1930, she married Yoshimatsu Enchi, a journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
with whom she had a daughter. In 1945 Enchi's home and all her possessions burned during an air raid towards the end of the Pacific War
Pacific War
The Pacific War, also sometimes called the Asia-Pacific War refers broadly to the parts of World War II that took place in the Pacific Ocean, its islands, and in East Asia, then called the Far East...
, and for several years immediately after the war she struggled with uterine cancer
Uterine cancer
The term uterine cancer may refer to any of several different types of cancer which occur in the uterus, namely:*Uterine sarcomas: sarcomas of the myometrium, or muscular layer of the uterus, are most commonly leiomyosarcomas.*Endometrial cancer:...
and surgical complications. She had two major operations, a mastectomy
Mastectomy
Mastectomy is the medical term for the surgical removal of one or both breasts, partially or completely. Mastectomy is usually done to treat breast cancer; in some cases, women and some men believed to be at high risk of breast cancer have the operation prophylactically, that is, to prevent cancer...
in 1938 and a hysterectomy
Hysterectomy
A hysterectomy is the surgical removal of the uterus, usually performed by a gynecologist. Hysterectomy may be total or partial...
in 1946.
In 1953, her novel "Himojii Tsukihi" ("Days of Hunger") was finally received favorably and the following year she won an award from the Society of Women Writers. Her novel is a violent, harrowing tale of family misfortune and physical and emotional deprivation. Her next novel was also highly praised: Onna zaka ("The Waiting Years", 1949–1957) won the Noma Literary Prize
Noma Literary Prize
The Noma Literary Prize was established in 1941 by the Noma Service Association in accordance with the last wishes of Noma Seiji , founder and first president of the Kōdansha publishing company. The Noma Literary Prize has been awarded annually to an outstanding new work published in Japan...
. It analyzes the plight of women who have no alternative but to accept the demeaning role assigned to them in the concubine system. From the 1950s onward, she became quite successful, and wrote numerous novels and short stories exploring female psychology
Psychology
Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...
and sexuality
Human sexuality
Human sexuality is the awareness of gender differences, and the capacity to have erotic experiences and responses. Human sexuality can also be described as the way someone is sexually attracted to another person whether it is to opposite sexes , to the same sex , to either sexes , or not being...
.
She was awarded the Order of Culture
Order of Culture
The is a Japanese order, established on February 11, 1937. The order has one class only, and may be awarded to men and women for contributions to Japan's art, literature or culture; recipients of the order also receive an annuity for life...
by the Japanese government in 1985.
Fumiko Enchi died of a heart attack
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
(this happened while she was eating at a get together or family event) in 1986, and her grave is at Yanaka Cemetery
Yanaka Cemetery
is a large cemetery located north of Ueno in Yanaka 7-chome, Taito, Tokyo, Japan. The Yanaka sector of Taito is one of the few Tokyo neighborhoods in which the old Shitamachi atmosphere can still be felt...
, Tokyo.
Novels
- Kaze no gotoki kotoba (The Words like the Wind, 1939)
- Ten no sachi, umi no sachi (The Treasures of Heaven and Sea, 1940)
- Shunju (Spring and Autumn, 1943)
- Onna Zaka (The Waiting Years, 1949–1957), English translation by John BesterJohn BesterJohn Bester , born and educated in England, is one of the foremost translators of modern Japanese fiction. He is a graduate of the University of London's School of Oriental and African Studies.-Works:...
. - Onna Men (Masks, 1958), English translation by Juliet Winters CarpenterJuliet Winters CarpenterJuliet Winters Carpenter is an American translator of modern Japanese literature. Born in the American Midwest, she studied Japanese literature at the University of Michigan and the Inter-University Centre for Japanese Language Studies in Tokyo...
. - Nama miko monogatari (A Tale of False Fortunes, 1965), English translation by Roger Kent Thomas.
- Saimu (Growing Fog, 1976)
One-Act Plays
- Furusato (A Birthplace, 1926)
- Banshu soya (A Noisy Night in Late Spring, 1928)
Prizes
- 1969 Tanizaki PrizeTanizaki PrizeThe Tanizaki Prize , named in honor of the Japanese novelist Jun'ichirō Tanizaki, is one of Japan's most sought-after literary awards. It was established in 1965 by the publishing company Chūō Kōronsha Inc. to commemorate its 80th anniversary as a publisher...
---Shu wo ubau mono; Kizu aru tsubasa; Niji to shura