was a Japanese writer and actor, known for her

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

stories and essays on Japanese pop culture. Married to avant-garde saxophonist

Kaoru Abe (May 5, 1949 – September 9, 1978) was a Japanese avant-garde alto saxophonist. Self-taught at a young age, Abe performed with notables such as Motoharu Yoshizawa, Takehisa Kosugi, Yosuke Yamashita, Derek Bailey, and Milford Graves, although ...

until his death from overdose, she is also known for her association with photographer

Nobuyoshi Araki is a Japanese photographer and contemporary artist professionally known by the mononym . Known primarily for photography that blends eroticism and bondage in a fine art context, he has published over 500 books.The number depends on such things ...

Life

Suzuki was born in Itō,

Shizuoka Shizuoka can refer to: * Shizuoka Prefecture, a Japanese prefecture * Shizuoka (city), the capital city of Shizuoka Prefecture * Shizuoka Airport * Shizuoka Domain, the name from 1868 to 1871 for Sunpu Domain, a predecessor of Shizuoka Prefecture ...

in 1949. Her father Eiji Suzuki was a reporter for the

Yomiuri Shimbun The (lit. ''Reading-selling Newspaper'' or ''Selling by Reading Newspaper'') is a Japanese newspaper published in Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka, and other major Japanese cities. It is one of the five major newspapers in Japan; the other four are t ...

. After graduating from Shizuoka Prefectural Itō High School in 1968, she worked briefly as a

keypunch A keypunch is a device for precisely punching holes into stiff paper cards at specific locations as determined by keys struck by a human operator. Other devices included here for that same function include the gang punch, the pantograph punch, ...

operator at Itō City Hall. In 1969 she was selected as a runner-up for the New Writers' Award administered by the monthly literary magazine ''Shōsetsu Gendai'' and moved to Tokyo, where she found work as a hostess, nude model, and actor. Though her acting career was brief, Suzuki's work was varied, and she appeared in both

pink films Pink is the color of a namesake flower that is a pale tint of red. It was first used as a color name in the late 17th century. According to surveys in Europe and the United States, pink is the color most often associated with charm, politeness, ...

and on stage, as a member of

Tenjō Sajiki , was a Japanese independent theater troupe co-founded by Shūji Terayama and whose members include Kohei Ando, Kujō Kyōko, Yutaka Higashi, Tadanori Yokoo, and Fumiko Takagi. It was led by Shūji Terayama and active between 1967 and 1983 (unt ...

, the avant-garde theater troupe co-founded by

Shūji Terayama was a Japanese avant-garde poet, dramatist, writer, film director, and photographer. His works range from radio drama, experimental television, underground (''Angura'') theatre, countercultural essays, to Japanese New Wave and "expanded" cinema ...

. Suzuki appeared in Tenjō Sajiki's 1970 play 人力飛行機ソロモン ''The Man-powered Plane Solomon'', and in January 1971 the troupe presented "Izumi Suzuki's Avant-Garde Theater Week," during which they staged her plays ある種の予感 ''A Kind of Premonition'' and マリィは待っている ''Marie is Waiting''. That same year she accompanied Tenjō Sajiki to Paris and Amsterdam. In 1970, she was shortlisted for the

Bungakukai is a Japanese monthly literary magazine published by Bungeishunjū as a oriented publication. History and profile The first version of ''Bungakukai'' was published from 1893 to 1898. The founders were the first generation romantic authors in t ...

Prize for New Writers, and from 1971 devoted herself to writing. In 1975, thanks to an introduction from the science fiction author

Taku Mayumura Taku Mayumura ( ''Mayumura Taku'', 20 October 1934 – 3 November 2019) was a Japanese novelist, science fiction writer(ja) Nihon Gensō Sakka Jiten, pp.648-649. and haiku poet. He won the Seiun Award for Novel twice. His novel ''Shiseikan'' (, '' ...

, she published her first sci-fi short story, "Trial Witch," in ''

S-F Magazine is a science fiction magazine published by Hayakawa Shobō in Japan. It was Japan’s first successful science fiction prozine. History ''S-F Magazine'' was established in 1960. It began publication with the February 1960 issue, which appea ...

''. She had initially met Mayumura when she made an appearance on the late-night television program ''11PM'' in 1970, during which he suggested she try reading science fiction. Suzuki married avant-garde saxophonist

in 1973, with whom she had a daughter, Azusa, in April 1976. Azusa did not come to live with Suzuki until the early 80s, however, and in the interim was raised instead by Suzuki's family in Shizuoka. In 1977 Suzuki divorced Abe (though they continued to live together), and he died a year later from an accidental overdose of

Bromisoval Bromisoval ( INN), commonly known as bromovalerylurea, is a hypnotic and sedative of the bromoureide group discovered by Knoll in 1907 and patented in 1909. It is marketed over the counter in Asia under various trade names (such as ''Brovarin' ...

. For a time she managed to support her daughter by publishing stories in sci-fi magazines, but eventually her health deteriorated and she began receiving public assistance. Suzuki's tumultuous marriage to Abe was the subject of ''Endless Waltz'', a 1992 novel by

Mayumi Inaba was a Japanese writer and poet. She won the Tanizaki Prize in 2011 for her memoir ''To the Peninsula'' (半島へ). Her short story was translated into English by Lawrence Rogers for the collection '' Tokyo Stories: A Literary Stroll''. Biogr ...

, which prompted Suzuki's orphaned daughter to sue Inaba for invasion of privacy. In 1995, the novel was adapted for film by

Kōji Wakamatsu was a Japanese film director who directed such ''pinku eiga'' films as and . He also produced Nagisa Ōshima's controversial film ''In the Realm of the Senses'' (1976). He has been called "the most important director to emerge in the pink film ...

, an exponent of the pink film genre who directed Suzuki in his 1970 film ''Violence Without a Cause''. Japanese photographer Nobuyoshi Araki took portraits of Suzuki throughout her career. These photographs were compiled after her death in a photograph collection titled ''Izumi,this bad girl''. Araki's portraits of Suzuki have also been used on covers of Japanese reissues of her works as well as English translations of her stories. In 1986, Suzuki committed suicide by hanging herself at home.

Writing

Suzuki belongs to the "Second Generation" of SF writers active in the 1970s, who broke free from the influence of American science fiction and developed an irreverent style all their own. Critic and scholar

Takayuki Tatsumi is a Japanese scholar. He is a professor at Keio University, where he has taught literary theory and American literature since 1989. As an avid science fiction fan, he authored many books and essays on science fiction. He received Nihon SF Tais ...

calls Suzuki an "originator of the 'Sf of Manners,' who makes the most of her well-developed camp sensibility." SF critic

Nozomi Ōmori Nozomi may refer to: *Nozomi (given name) *Nozomi (book), a photobook by Nozomi Sasaki *Nozomi Entertainment, the anime license and distribution division of retailer The Right Stuf International * Nozomi (spacecraft), a failed Mars space probe * ...

, a translator of

Ted Chiang Ted Chiang (born 1967) is an American science fiction writer. His work has won four Nebula awards, four Hugo awards, the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, and six Locus awards. His short story "Story of Your Life" was the basis of the ...

and

Rudy Rucker Rudolf von Bitter Rucker (; born March 22, 1946) is an American mathematician, computer scientist, science fiction author, and one of the founders of the cyberpunk literary movement. The author of both fiction and non-fiction, he is best known f ...

, has described her 1982 story "Hey, It's a Love Psychadelic!" as a forerunner of

cyberpunk Cyberpunk is a subgenre of science fiction in a dystopian futuristic setting that tends to focus on a "combination of lowlife and high tech", featuring futuristic technological and scientific achievements, such as artificial intelligence and cyber ...

. Suzuki appeared in a number of pink films in 1970 under the name Naomi Asaka, beginning with her debut, ''A Virgin at Play''. That same year she appeared in ''Violence Without a Cause'', directed by Kōji Wakamatsu, and in the film adaptation of

George Akiyama was a Japanese manga artist known for dealing with controversial and incendiary topics in many of his works. He was born the second boy of five siblings. He had an older brother and older sister, as well as a younger brother and younger sister ...

's controversial manga ''

Zeni Geba is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by George Akiyama. The series was originally serialized in Shogakukan's ''shōnen'' manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' from 1970 to 1971, with its chapters collected into two ''tankō ...

'', which was directed by Yoshinori Wada. Her only film appearance after 1971's ''

Throw Away Your Books, Rally in the Streets is a 1971 Japanese feature-length experimental drama film directed by Shūji Terayama. A metaphor for Japan's descent into materialism, it follows a young man's disillusionment with the world around him and his determination to achieve something ...

'', directed by Shūji Terayama, appears to have been a 52-minute 16mm film called 家獣 ''House Beast'', which was directed by Teiji Aoyama and released in 1979. The film has not been screened since the 1980s, however, and may be

lost Lost may refer to getting lost, or to: Geography *Lost, Aberdeenshire, a hamlet in Scotland * Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail, or LOST, a hiking and cycling trail in Florida, US History *Abbreviation of lost work, any work which is known to have bee ...

Selected bibliography

Japanese

*愛するあなた ''The One I Love'', Gendaihyōronsha, 1973 *あたしは天使じゃない ''I'm No Angel'', Buronzusha, 1973 *残酷メルヘン ''Cruel Fairytale'', Seigashobō, 1975 *女と女の世の中 ''Women and Women'', Hayakawa Bunko, 1978 *いつだってティータイム ''Teatime Any Time'', Byakuyashobō, 1978 *感触 ''Touch'', Kosaido Publishing, 1980 *恋のサイケデリック! ''A Love Psychedelic'', Hayakawa Bunko, 1982 *ハートに火をつけて! だれが消す ''Set Your Heart on Fire'', San-Ichi Shobō, 1983 *鈴木いづみプレミアム・コレクション ''Izumi Suzuki: The Premium Collection'', Bunyūsha, 2006 *契約鈴木いづみSF全集 ''Covenant: The Complete SF of Izumi Suzuki'', Bunyūsha, 2014

English

*''Terminal Boredom'',

Verso Books Verso Books (formerly New Left Books) is a left-wing publishing house based in London and New York City, founded in 1970 by the staff of ''New Left Review''. Renaming, new brand and logo Verso Books was originally known as New Left Books. The ...

, 2021 (short stories) *''Hit Parade of Tears'', Verso Books, 2023 (short stories)

Selected filmography

As Naomi Asaka

*処女の戯れ ''A Virgin at Play'' (

Million Film was one of the early independent studios which produced pink films. Along with OP Eiga, Shintōhō Eiga, Kantō and Kōji Wakamatsu's production studio, Million Film was one of the most influential on the genre during its first decade. Many of t ...

) 1970 *売春暴行白書・性暴力を斬る ''White Paper on the Violation of Prostitutes: Sexual Violence'' (Million Film) 1970 *女性の性徴期 ''A Woman's Sexual Development'' (Million Film) 1970 *絶妙の女 ''The Perfect Woman'' (Kantō Movies) 1970 *情炎・女護ヶ島 ''Burning Passion: The Isle of Women'' (Kantō Movies) 1970 *理由なき暴行現代性犯罪絶叫篇 ''Violence Without a Cause: The Scream of Modern Sex Crimes'' (Wakamatsu Productions) 1970

As Izumi Suzuki

*銭ゲバ ''Zeni Geba''（Kindai Hōei) 1970 *書を捨てよ街へ出よう ''Throw Away Your Books, Rally in the Streets'' (Art Theater Guild/Jinriki Hikōki) 1971

References

Notes

External links

"Museum of Izumi Suzuki" gallery of works by Izumi Suzuki (Japanese)

"The Walker" by Izumi Suzuki (trans. Daniel Joseph)

Izumi entry
in

The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction ''The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction'' (SFE) is an English language reference work on science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and f ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Suzuki, Izumi 1949 births 1986 deaths Japanese essayists 20th-century Japanese novelists 20th-century Japanese short story writers 20th-century essayists 20th-century Japanese women writers Japanese women short story writers Japanese women novelists 1986 suicides Suicides by hanging in Japan