was a Japanese writer of novels, short stories and poetry, who is included in the
feminist
Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...
literature canon.
Among her best-known works are ''Diary of a Vagabond'', ''
Late Chrysanthemum'' and ''Floating Clouds''.
Biography
Hayashi was born in
Moji-ku, Kitakyūshū, Japan,
and raised in abject poverty.
In 1910, her mother Kiku Hayashi divorced her merchant husband Mayaro Miyata (who was not Fumiko's biological father) and married Kisaburo Sawai.
The family then worked as itinerant merchants in
Kyūshū
is the third-largest island of Japan's five main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands ( i.e. excluding Okinawa). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regional name referred to Kyushu and its surround ...
.
After graduating from high school in 1922, Hayashi moved to
Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...
and lived with several men, supporting herself with a variety of jobs,
before settling into marriage with painting student Rokubin Tezuka in 1926.
During this time, she also helped launch the poetry magazine ''Futari''.
Her autobiographical novel ''Diary of a Vagabond'' (''Hōrōki''), published in 1930, became a bestseller and gained her high popularity.
Many of her subsequent works also showed an autobiographical background,
like ''
The Accordion and the Fish Town'' or ''Seihin no sho''. In the following years, Hayashi travelled to China and Europe.
Starting in 1938, Hayashi, who had joined the ''Pen butai'' ("Pen Corps"), war correspondents who were in favour of Japan's militarist regime, wrote reports about the
Sino-Japanese War. In 1941, she joined a group of women writers, including
Ineko Sata, who went to Manchuria in occupied China. In 1942–43, again as part of a larger group of women writers, she travelled to Southeast Asia, where she spent eight months in the Andaman Islands, Singapore, Java and Borneo. In later years, Hayashi faced criticism for collaborating with state-sponsored wartime propaganda, but, unlike Sata, never apologised or rationalised her behaviour.
Writer
Yoshiko Shibaki
was a Japanese writer of short stories and novels. She was awarded numerous prizes for her work, including the Akutagawa Prize and the Women's Literature Prize.
Biography Early life
Shibaki was born in Tokyo on 7 May 1914 into a merchant family. ...
observed a shift from poetic sentiment towards harsh reality in Hayashi's post-war work, which depicted the effects of the war on the lives of its survivors, as in the short story ''Downtown''.
In 1948, she was awarded the 3rd Women Literary Award for her short story ''Late Chrysanthemum'' (''Bangiku'').
Her last novel ''Meshi'', which appeared in serialised form in the ''
Asahi Shimbun
is one of the four largest newspapers in Japan. Founded in 1879, it is also one of the oldest newspapers in Japan and Asia, and is considered a newspaper of record for Japan. Its circulation, which was 4.57 million for its morning edition and ...
'', remained unfinished due to her sudden death.
Hayashi died of
myocardial infarction
A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may ...
on June 28, 1951,
survived by her husband and her adopted son.
Her funeral was officiated by writer and friend
Yasunari Kawabata
was a Japanese novelist and short story writer whose spare, lyrical, subtly shaded prose works won him the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1968, the first Japanese author to receive the award. His works have enjoyed broad international appeal an ...
.
Hayashi's house in
Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo, was later turned into a museum, the Hayashi Fumiko Memorial Hall.
In
Onomichi
is a city located in Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan, facing the Inland Sea. The city was founded on April 1, 1898. As of April 30, 2016, the city has an estimated population of 141,811 and a population density of 497.8 persons per km2. The total a ...
, where Hayashi had lived in her teen years, a bronze figure was erected in her memory.
Themes and legacy
Many of Hayashi's stories revolve around free spirited women and troubled relationships. Joan E. Ericson's 1997 translations and analysis of the immensely popular ''Diary of a Vagabond'' and ''Narcissus'' suggest that Hayashi's appeal is rooted in the clarity with which she conveys the humanity not just of women, but also others on the underside of Japanese society. In addition, Ericson questions the factuality of her autobiographical writings and expresses a critical view of scholars who take these writings by word instead of, as has been done with male writers, seeing a literary imagination at work which transforms the personal experience, not simply mirrors it.
In ''Japanese Women Writers: Twentieth Century Short Fiction'', Noriko Mizuta Lippit and Kyoko Iriye Selden point out that, other than her autobiographical portrayals of women, Hayashi's later stories are "pure fiction finished with artistic mastery". Hayashi herself explained that she took this step to separate herself from the "retching confusion" of ''Diary of a Vagabond''.
One of her short stories, Tokio, was translated into
Finnish
Finnish may refer to:
* Something or someone from, or related to Finland
* Culture of Finland
* Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland
* Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people
* Finnish cuisine
See also ...
and featured in a Finnish literary magazine, ''
Parnasso
''Parnasso'' is a literary magazine published in Helsinki, Finland. The magazine has been in circulation since 1951. It is among the most respected literary magazines in the country.
History and profile
''Parnasso'' was established in 1951. It ...
'', in 1959.
Selected works
* 1929: ''I Saw a Pale Horse'' (''Aouma o mitari'') – poetry collection. Translated by Janice Brown.
* 1930: ''Diary of a Vagabond'' (''Hōrōki'') – novel. Translated by Joan E. Ericson.
* 1931: ''
The Accordion and the Fish Town'' (''Fukin to uo no machi'') – short story. Translated by Janice Brown.
* 1933: ''Seihin no sho'' – short story
* 1934: ''Nakimushi kozo'' – novel
* 1936: ''Inazuma'' – novel
* 1947: ''Uzushio'' – novel
* 1947: ''Downfall'' (''Rinraku'') – short story. Translated by J.D. Wisgo.
* 1948: ''Downtown'' (''Daun taun'') – short story. Translated by Ivan Morris.
* 1948: ''
Late Chrysanthemum'' (''Bangiku'') – short story. Translated twice by John Bester and Lane Dunlop.
* 1949: ''Shirosagi'' – short story
* 1949: ''Narcissus'' (''Suisen'') – short story. Translated twice by Kyoko Iriye Selden and Joan E. Ericson.
* 1950: ''Chairo no me'' – novel
* 1951: ''Floating Clouds'' (''Ukigumo'') – novel. Translated twice by Y. Koitabashi and Lane Dunlop.
* 1951: ''Meshi'' – novel (unfinished)
Adaptations (selected)
Numerous of Hayashi's works have been adapted into film:
* 1938: ''Nakimushi kozo'', dir.
Shirō Toyoda
was a Japanese film director and screenwriter who directed over 60 films during his career spanning 50 years.
Career
Born in Kyoto, Toyoda moved to Tokyo after finishing high school and studied scriptwriting under the pioneering film director ...
* 1951: ''
Repast'' (based on ''Meshi''), dir.
Mikio Naruse
was a Japanese filmmaker who directed 89 films spanning the period 1930 to 1967.
Naruse is known for imbuing his films with a bleak and pessimistic outlook. He made primarily shomin-geki ("common people drama") films with female protagonists, ...
* 1952: ''
Lightning
Lightning is a naturally occurring electrostatic discharge during which two electric charge, electrically charged regions, both in the atmosphere or with one on the land, ground, temporarily neutralize themselves, causing the instantaneous ...
'' (based on ''Inazuma''), dir. Mikio Naruse
* 1953: ''
Wife
A wife (plural, : wives) is a female in a marital relationship. A woman who has separated from her partner continues to be a wife until the marriage is legally Dissolution (law), dissolved with a divorce judgement. On the death of her partner, ...
'' (based on ''Chairo no me''), dir. Mikio Naruse
* 1954: ''
Late Chrysanthemums
is a 1954 Japanese drama film directed by Mikio Naruse. It follows four retired geisha and their struggles to make ends meet in post World War II Japan. The film is based on three short stories by female author Fumiko Hayashi.
Plot
''Late Chrysa ...
'' (also incorporating the short stories ''Narcissus'' and ''Shirosagi''),
dir. Mikio Naruse
* 1955: ''
Floating Clouds
is a 1955 Japanese drama film directed by Mikio Naruse. It is based on the novel of the same name by Japanese writer Fumiko Hayashi, published just before her death in 1951. The film received numerous national awards upon its release and remai ...
'', dir. Mikio Naruse
* 1962: ''
A Wanderer's Notebook
, also known as '' Her Lonely Lane'', is a 1962 black-and-white Japanese drama film directed by Mikio Naruse, starring Hideko Takamine. It is based on the autobiographical novel of the same title by writer Fumiko Hayashi and its stage adaptation ...
'' (based on ''Diary of a Vagabond''), dir. Mikio Naruse
* 1986: ''Wandering Days'' (anime short, based on ''Diary of a Vagabond'')
Hayashi's biography also served as the basis for theatre plays, notably Kazuo Kikuta's 1961 ''Hourou-ki'', about her early life, and
Hisashi Inoue
was a leading Japanese playwright and writer of comic fiction. From 1961 to 1986, he used the pen name of Uchiyama Hisashi.
Early life
Inoue was born in what is now part of Kawanishi in Yamagata Prefecture, where his father was a pharmacis ...
's 2002 ''Taiko tataite, fue fuite'', based on her later years, including her entanglement with the militarist regime.
Notes
References
Bibliography
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*
*
External links
J'Lit , Authors : Fumiko Hayashi , Books from Japan
*
*
Full textof an English translation of Hayashi Fumiko's fairy tale ''The Crane’s Flute'' (鶴の笛)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hayashi Fumiko
1900s births
Year of birth uncertain
1951 deaths
Japanese women poets
Japanese women novelists
Japanese women short story writers
Feminist writers
20th-century Japanese poets
20th-century Japanese novelists
20th-century Japanese women writers
People from Shimonoseki
20th-century Japanese short story writers