Ichiyo Higuchi (above)

It's been a long time since I haven't had any Japanese works, so this time I'll introduce Japanese writers and literary works.

I recently participated in a creative camp, and there were twice as many girls as boys in the literature group. Of course, this does not mean anything, but it also reflects that more and more women are engaged in literary creation. But this was not the case in the old days, not to mention creation, not even living independently. Fortunately, in the Meiji era, there was a female writer who could create, and her works were the same as Natsume Soseki, Dazai Osamu, Mori Ogai, Akutagawa Ryunosuke, and Nakajima Atsushi. She is Ichiyo Higuchi, the protagonist of Japan's current 5,000-yen banknotes.

Higuchi Ichiba was born in Tokyo in 1872 (Meiji 5), formerly known as Higuchi Nazu, the second daughter of the family. Unlike other women, Higuchi's father sent her to school at an early age. Although halfway through, she was forced to drop out of school due to her mother's old thinking that "it's useless for a girl to study too much". But the father knew very well that his daughter loved to read, so when he was 14 years old, he was introduced by his father's doctor friend, and entered the private school "Ogi's House" of the upper class Nakajima Utako to study waka.

In 1888, an event occurred that affected Higuchi's life: Tanabe Flower Garden, a junior high school student, published the first modern novel written by a woman, "The Warbler of Yabu", to great acclaim. This stimulated Higuchi's idea of making a living by writing novels. But what made her decide to switch from Waka to novels? It was because of the death of her brother and father. The Higuchi family went bankrupt because of the debt left by his father. Higuchi should only take up the responsibility of the family and run around for loans all day long. At this time, Higuchi remembered that her sister's novels had earned her considerable royalties, so she made up her mind to start writing novels from her favorite waka.

Many writers write for personal interest, or for self-salvation. But Higuchi wrote entirely for money and to support his family. However, her transformation made her one of the outstanding novelists of the Meiji era.

She met Momosui Banai, who was a novel reporter at the Asahi Shimbun at the time, through the recommendation of her sister's friend, and learned to write novels under his guidance. In March 1891, under the pseudonym "Ichiba", she published her debut novel "Dark Sakura" (Dark Cherry). Later, Higuchi wanted to increase income by serializing newspaper novels, but her work was not accepted by Tokyo Asahi Shimbun, which disappointed Higuchi. Under persuasion, he broke up with Banjing.

After the breakup, Higuchi studied alone at the Ueno Library. At this time, Higuchi's senior sister Tanabe Flower Garden introduced her novel "Buried Wood" (うもれ木) in a magazine, which earned her a considerable amount of royalties so that she could repay her debts. Afterwards, the senior sister helped her to publish another work "Snow Day" (Snow No Day) in the inaugural issue of "Literature Circle".

If you thought that Higuchi's life was getting better, you were wrong. After the release of "Snow Day", she had no new works, and her life returned to hardship. She had to move with her mother and younger sister to open a grocery store in Shimotani Ryusenji, near Yukor, Yoshihara. Yoshihara Yukaku is a famous place for wind and moon, and because Yoshihara is not allowed to pull carts, people have to get off near Longquanji. Therefore, Higuchi observed Yoshihara and the people and things around her up close, which became the nourishment for her creation.

Later, because more grocery stores opened near her store, her life was once again difficult, and she had to borrow money to survive again. Finally, she had to close the store and move to Fukuyama-cho, Maruyama, Hongo District. At the same time, she began to work as a teaching assistant in Ogi no House. .

During this time Higuchi continued to publish her work in various magazines and Manman gained fame. At this time, she met another nobleman: Otsuha Ohashi, the editor of Bowenkan Publishing House. Ohashi Otowa is a pioneer of modern literature. Ohashi and his wife are very fond of Higuchi, they help Higuchi's life, and his wife is a student of Higuchi Waka. Ohashi helped Higuchi publish her work in a business magazine. And when Higuchi was 23 years old, she entered the "14 months of miracles", and the number of works published was amazing, including her masterpiece "Childhood" (たけくらべ), "Thirteen Nights" (Thirteen Nights), "Xingyun" (ゆくCloud) and so on.

However, Higuchi encountered many great writers who encountered a disease: tuberculosis. It only took half a year from onset to death. On November 23, 1896, Higuchi died of tuberculosis at home, ending her short 24-year life.

(to be continued)

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Higuchi Ichiyo (Wiki) —
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Higuchi Ichiyo

(New translation) Ichiyo Higuchi's Ukiyo-e in Tokyo Shimomachi: Contains Yoshiwara's Elegy "Childhood" and other unrequited loves (from blog) — https://www.books.com.tw/products/0010727604