Fumiko Nakajō (中城ふみ子 ''Nakajō Fumiko'', real name 野江富美子 ''Noe Fumiko'', November 25, 1922 in Obihiro,

Hokkaidō is Japan's second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by the undersea railway Seikan Tunnel. The la ...

– August 3, 1954 in

Sapporo ( ain, サッ・ポロ・ペッ, Satporopet, lit=Dry, Great River) is a city in Japan. It is the largest city north of Tokyo and the largest city on Hokkaido, the northernmost main island of the country. It ranks as the fifth most populous city ...

) was a Japanese

tanka is a genre of classical Japanese poetry and one of the major genres of Japanese literature. Etymology Originally, in the time of the ''Man'yōshū'' (latter half of the eighth century AD), the term ''tanka'' was used to distinguish "short poem ...

poet.

Life

Fumiko Nakajō attended the Tokyo Academy of Home Economics (later

Tokyo Kasei-Gakuin University is a private university in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan, established in 1963. The school has a branch campus in Machida, Tokyo. The predecessor of the school was founded in 1925. Though the two share the same historical roots (and website), this school ...

) and studied tanka with Ikeda Kikan (1896–1956), a scholar of Japanese literature. Married in 1942, she gave birth to four children before the marriage was divorced. Diagnosed with

breast cancer Breast cancer is cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipple, a newly inverted nipple, or a re ...

, she underwent mastectomies in 1952 and 1953. Shortly before her death in 1954, a series of her poems were printed in Tanka kenkyū and Tanka magazines with the recommendation of writer Yasunari Kawabata, and her first book, the collection ''Chibusa sōshitsu'' (乳房喪失, ''Losing My Breasts''), was published. A second collection, ''Hana no genkei'' (花の原型, ''A Prototype of Flowers''), appeared posthumously. Many of her poems addressed her illness, and she sometimes altered the tanka form to make it more expressive. There are memorials to her at the Tokachi Gokoku Shrine, beside the Obihiro Shrine, and behind the Obihiro Centennial Memorial Hall.

Film

In 1955, Nikkatsu studios produced the film ''

The Eternal Breasts , also titled ''Forever a Woman'', is a 1955 Japanese drama film directed by actress Kinuyo Tanaka. It is based on the life of tanka poet Fumiko Nakajō (1922–1954). Plot Unhappily married Fumiko, mother of two children, divorces her drug-ad ...

'' (also known as ''Forever a Woman''), based on Nakajō's life. It was directed by Kinuyo Tanaka and starred

Yumeji Tsukioka was a Japanese film actress. She appeared in more than 150 films between 1940 and 1994. She starred in the film ''The Temptress and the Monk'', which was entered into the 8th Berlin International Film Festival. Her husband was the director Umets ...

, Ryoji Hayama and

Yōko Sugi Yōko Sugi (杉葉子) (October 28, 1928 – May 15, 2019) was a Japanese actress who performed major roles in films like ''Aoi sanmyaku'' and '' Repast''. Early life Sugi was born on October 28, 1928 in what is now Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan. ...

References

Bibliography

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nakajo, Fumiko 1922 births 1954 deaths People from Obihiro, Hokkaido Deaths from breast cancer Deaths from cancer in Japan 20th-century Japanese poets Japanese women poets 20th-century Japanese women writers