Setsuko Tsumura

Setsuko Tsumura (節子津村, Tsumura Setsuko, born June 5, 1928) is a Japanese novelist.

Setsuko Tsumura
Native name
節子 津村
Born(1928-06-05)June 5, 1928
OccupationWriter
NationalityJapanese
Notable works"Gangu" (Toys)
Notable awardsAkutagawa Prize
SpouseAkira Yoshimura

Early life

Tsumura was born in the capital city of Fukui, Japan. Her mother died when she was nine years old. Two years later, she moved to Tokyo. Her father, a silk weaver, died when she was sixteen. Between 1947 and 1948, at the age of nineteen, Tsumura ran her own dressmaking shop, employing three other seamstresses. Despite the success of her business, she closed the shop to attend Gakushuuin Women's Junior College, where she studied literature and edited the student literary magazine.[1] She met her husband, Akira Yoshimura (1927 - 2006),[2] while contributing to the literary magazine at his college. Tsumura graduated in 1953 and married soon after.[1]

Career

Tsumura was nominated for the Naoki Prize in 1959 for her short story, "Kagi" (Key), which she wrote for the Bungakukai magazine. She was awarded the Akutagawa Prize in 1965 for her short story "Gangu" (Playthings), a story about an expectant mother who is disappointed by her husband's indifference in their pregnancy. In 1972, Tsumura's short story, "Saihate" (The Farthest Limit) won the Shincho Prize. It was based on Tsumura's personal experience after the collapse of her husband's business.

Tsumura's 1983 biographical novel, "Shirayuri no kishi" (Precipice of a White Lily) is about a poetess from Tsumura's native Fukui; Tomiko Yamakawa (1879 - 1909).

Tsumura's novel, "Ryuuseiu" (A Meteoric Shower) won the Women's Literature Prize in 1990. It depicted the Boshin War from the perspective of a 15-year-old girl.[1]

She is a member of the Japan Art Academy and was recognized as a person of cultural merit in 2016.[3]

Bibliography

Type of literary work denoted in parentheses.

Japanese Title Reading English Title Publish Date Publisher
海鳴 (novel) Umi nari Rumbling of the Sea 1965 Kodansha
風の吹く町 (short story collection) Kaze no fuku machi The Windy Town 1970 Gekkan-pensha
白い焔 (short story collection) Shiroi honoo White Flames 1971 Yomiuri-shimbunsha
さい果て (short story collection) Saihate The Farthest Limit 1972 Chikumashobo
?? (short story collection) Tomurai me Woman Undertaker 1973 Chikumashobo
炎の舞い (novel) Honoo no mae Blazing Dance of the Kiln 1975 Shinchosha
星がゆれる時 (novel) Hoshi ga yureru toki When the Star Trembles 1976 Kobunsha
遅咲きの梅 (novel) Osozaki no ume Late-Blooming Plums 1978 Chuokoronsha
?? (novel) Haru no yokan Spring Anticipation 1979 Bungeishunjusha
重い歳月 (novel) Omoi saigetsu Heavy Months 1980 Shinchosha
冬の虹 (novel) Fuyu no niji Winter Rainbow 1981 Shinchosha
母の部屋 (short story collection) Haha no heya My Mother's Room 1982 Shueisha
白百合の崖(biography) Shirayuri no kishi Precipice of a White Lily 1983 Shinchosha
海の星座 (novel) Umi no seiza The Sea Constellation 1984 Mainichi-shimbunsha
千輪の華 (novel) Senrin no hana Thousand Flowers 1985 Shinchosha
土と炎の里(essays) Tsuchi to honoo no sato The Village of Clay and Blaze 1986 Chuokoronsha
惑い (short story collection) Madoi Delusion 1987 Yomiuri-shimbunsha
幸福村 (short story collection) Koofuku na mura: Ten ro The Village of Happiness: A Sculling Oar of Heaven 1989 Shinchosha
霧棲む里 (novel) Kiri sumu sato A Foggy Village 1989 Kodansha
流星雨 (novel) Ryuuseiu A Meteoric Shower 1990 Iwanamishoten
紅梅 (novel) Koobai Red Blossomed Plum Tree[4] 2011 Bungeishunjusha

Translated Works

Tsumura's 1969 short story "Yakoodokei" (夜光時計) was translated under the title "Luminous Watch." It is included in the anthology This Kind of Woman: Ten Stories by Japanese Women Writers by Elizabeth Hanson and Yukiko Tanaka.[5][1]

"Gangu," the short story that won Tsumura the Akutagawa Prize, was translated by Kyoko Evanhoe and Robert N. Lawson for the Japan Quarterly in 1980 under the name "Playthings."[1]

References

  1. Schierbeck, Sachiko Shibata; Edelstein, Marlene R. (1994). Japanese Women Novelists in the 20th Century: 104 Biographies, 1900-1993. Museum Tusculanum Press. ISBN 9788772892689.
  2. "Mitaka City| Mitaka City honorary citizen (3)". www.city.mitaka.tokyo.jp.e.nf.hp.transer.com. Retrieved 2019-10-21.
  3. "平成28年度 文化功労者:文部科学省". www.mext.go.jp. Retrieved 2019-10-23.
  4. Inc, Encyclopaedia Britannica (2012-03-01). Britannica Book of the Year 2012. Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. ISBN 9781615356188.
  5. Mulhern, Chieko Irie (1994). Japanese Women Writers: A Bio-critical Sourcebook. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 9780313254864.
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