was a Japanese writer associated with the

Atomic Bomb Literature is a literary genre in Japanese literature which comprises writings about the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Definition The term "atomic bomb literature" came into wide use in the 1960s. Writings affiliated with the genre can include ...

genre.

Biography

Hayashi was born in

Nagasaki is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. It became the sole port used for trade with the Portuguese and Dutch during the 16th through 19th centuries. The Hidden Christian Sites in the ...

and spent the years from 1931 to 1945 with her family in

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

. She returned to Nagasaki in 1945 and enrolled in Nagasaki Girls' High School, where she was mobilized in the

Mitsubishi The is a group of autonomous Japanese multinational companies in a variety of industries. Founded by Yatarō Iwasaki in 1870, the Mitsubishi Group historically descended from the Mitsubishi zaibatsu, a unified company which existed from 1870 ...

Munitions Factory. She was working at the factory when the

atomic bomb A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bomb ...

destroyed Nagasaki on August 9, 1945. Hayashi was seriously ill for two months, and suffered afterwards from fragile health. She later studied nursing in a special course the Welfare Faculty for Women attached to the

Medical School, but left before graduation. She started to write in 1962. In 1967, her story ''Procession on a Cloudy Day'' (''Kumoribi no kōshin'') was published in ''Bungei Shuto''. She first drew wide attention in 1975 with an autobiographical story about the bombing, ''Ritual of Death'' (''Matsuri no ba''), which received that year's

Akutagawa Prize The is a Japanese literary award presented biannually. Because of its prestige and the considerable attention the winner receives from the media, it is, along with the Naoki Prize, one of Japan's most sought after literary prizes. History The ...

. ''Two Grave Markers'' (''Futari No Bohyō''), also based on her experiences in the bombing, was published that same year. Her works in the 1970s include a collection of twelve short stories titled ''Giyaman bīdoro'' ("Cut glass, blown glass"), containing ''The Empty Can'' (''Aki kan'') and ''Yellow Sand'' (''Kousa''), both first published in 1978. In 1980, Hayashi published her first full-length novel, ''Naki ga gotoki'' ("As if nothing had happened"), with a semi-autobiographical lead character. The Nagasaki theme continued through the 1980s with her collections ''Sangai no ie'' ("Home in the three worlds"), which won the

Kawabata Prize 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 a ...

, and ''Michi'' ("The Path"). Her work ''Yasurakani ima wa nemuri tamae'' won the 1990

Tanizaki Prize The Tanizaki Prize (谷崎潤一郎賞 ''Tanizaki Jun'ichirō Shō''), named in honor of the Japanese novelist Jun'ichirō Tanizaki, is one of Japan's most sought-after literary awards. It was established in 1965 by the publishing company Chūō K� ...

. Hayashi lived near

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

from 1985 to 1988.

Selected works

* ''Matsuri no ba'' (Ritual of death), Tokyo: Kodansha, 1975. * ''Shanhai'', Tōkyō : Chūō Kōronsha, 1983. * ''Sangai no ie'' (三界の家), Tōkyō : Shinchōsha, 1984. * ''Michi'' (道), Tōkyō : Bungei Shunju, 1985. * ''Tanima'' (谷間), Tōkyō : Kōdansha, 1988. * ''Rinbu'' (輪舞), Tōkyō : Shinchōsha, 1989. * ''Yasuraka ni ima wa nemuritamae'' (やすらかに今はねむり給え), Tōkyō : Kōdansha, 1990. * ''Seishun'' (青春), Tōkyō : Shinchōsha, 1994. * ''Bājinia no aoi sora'' (ヴァージニアの蒼い空), Tōkyō : Nihon Tosho Sentā, 2005. * ''Matsuri no ba. Giyaman bīdoro'' (祭の場. ギヤマンビードロ), Tōkyō : Nihon Tosho Sentā, 2005. * ''Missheru no kuchibeni'' (ミッシェルの口紅. 上海), Tōkyō : Nihon Tosho Sentā, 2005. * ''Nagai jikan o kaketa ningen no keiken'' (長い時間をかけた人間の経験), Tōkyō : Nihon Tosho Sentā, 2005. * ''Rinbu. Kashi no ki no tēburu'' (輪舞. 樫の木のテーブル), Tōkyō : Nihon Tosho Sentā, 2005. * ''Sangai no ie. Michi'' (三界の家. 道), Tōkyō : Nihon Tosho Sentā, 2005. * ''Shizen o kou. Shunkan no kioku'' (自然を恋う. 瞬間の記憶), Tōkyō : Nihon Tosho Sentā, 2005. * ''Yasuraka ni ima wa nemuritamae. Seishun'' (やすらかに今はねむり給え. 青春), Tōkyō : Nihon Tosho Sentā, 2005.

Awards

* 1975

for ''Ritual of Death'' (''Matsuri no ba'') * 1983

for ''Sangai no ie'' ("Home in the three worlds") * 1990

for ''Yasurakani ima wa nemuri tamae'' (やすらかに今はねむり給え) * 2000

Noma Literary Prize The Noma Literary Prize (''Noma Bungei Shō'') was established in 1941 by the Noma Service Association (''Noma Hōkō Kai'') in accordance with the last wishes of Seiji Noma (1878–1938), founder and first president of the Kodansha publishing co ...

for ''Nagai zikan o kaketa ningen no keiken'' * 2005

Asahi Prize The , established in 1929, is an award presented by the Japanese newspaper ''Asahi Shimbun'' and Asahi Shimbun Foundation to honor individuals and groups that have made outstanding accomplishments in the fields of arts and academics and have greatl ...

for ''林京子全集''

Selected works in English translation

* ''The Empty Can'', trans. Margaret Mitsutani, in ''Atomic Aftermath: Short Stories about Hiroshima and Nagasaki'', ed. Kenzaburo Oe. Tokyo: Shueisha, 1984; ''Fire from the Ashes: Japanese Stories about Hiroshima and Nagasaki'', London: Readers International, 1985; ''The Crazy Iris and Other Stories of the Atomic Aftermath'', New York: Grove Press, 1985. pp. 127–143. * ''From Trinity to Trinity'', trans. Eiko Otake, Station Hill, NY: Station Hill Press, 2010. * ''Procession on a Cloudy Day'', trans. Hirosuke Kashiwagi, ''Bulletin of Concerned Asian Scholars'' 25.1 (1993), pp. 58–69. * ''Ritual of Death'', trans. Kyoko Selden, Japan Interpreter 12 Winter（1978, pp. 54–93. Anthologized in ''Nuke Rebuke: Writers and Artists against Nuclear Energy and Weapons'', ed. Marty Sklar, Iowa City: The Spirit That Moves Us Press, 1984. pp. 21–57. * ''Two Grave Markers'', trans. Kyoko Selden, ''The Bulletin of Concerned Asian Scholars'' 18.1 January–March (1986): pp. 23–35. Anthologized in ''The Atomic Bomb Voices from Hiroshima and Nagasaki'', eds. Kyoko and Mark Selden, An East Gate Book, New York: M.E. Sharpe, 1989. pp. 24–54. * ''Yellow Sand'', trans. Kyoko Selden, in ''Japanese Women Writers: Twentieth Century Short Fiction'', 1991. pp. 207–216.

References

External links

Kyoko Hayashi
at J'Lit Books from Japan

at JLPP (Japanese Literature Publishing Project) {{DEFAULTSORT:Hayashi, Kyoko 1930 births 2017 deaths Hibakusha Japanese women novelists Akutagawa Prize winners People from Nagasaki Place of death missing