The ''Nyonin Geijutsu'' (女人芸術), which translates to ''Women's Arts'', was a Japanese women's literary magazine that ran from July 1928 to June 1932. It was published by

Hasegawa Shigure was a Japanese playwright and editor of a literary journal.Copeland, Rebecca L. (RLC) "Hasegawa Shigure" (part of "Glossary and Terms"). In: Copeland, Rebecca (editor). ''Woman Critiqued: Translated Essays on Japanese Women's Writing''. Universi ...

. They published 48 issues that focused on feminism and women's art and literature. It was one of the most influential Japanese literary women's magazines since the ''Bluestocking''.

History

The ''Nyonin Geijutsu'' was first published in July 1928 by Hasegawa Shigure. The magazine was written, edited, designed, and published by women, and their goal was women's liberation. The magazine was funded by Hasegawa's husband, the popular author . When the magazine first began publishing, Hasegawa was in charge of publication, Sogawa Kinuko was the editor, and the printer was Hanayo Ikuta. They published it in Hasegawa's home in what is now

Shinjuku is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. It is a major commercial and administrative centre, housing the northern half of the busiest railway station in the world (Shinjuku Station) and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, the administration ...

. Later Hasegawa also edited, and the place of publication moved to what is now Akasaka. The May and June 1930 issues were banned.高見順『昭和文学盛衰史』講談社 1965年 The October 1931 issue was banned. The magazine continued publication after the

Mukden Incident The Mukden Incident, or Manchurian Incident, known in Chinese as the 9.18 Incident (九・一八), was a false flag event staged by Japanese military personnel as a pretext for the 1931 Japanese invasion of Manchuria. On September 18, 1931, L ...

, but suddenly stopped publishing in June 1932 because of Hasegawa's worsening health. The June issue was printed, but was destroyed. After that, the Nyonin Geijutsusha started a new magazine called ''Kagayaku''.

Notable contributors

Some writers for the magazine included

Yaeko Nogami Yaeko is a female Japanese given name. People *, Ainu waka poet and evangelist. *, Japanese nurse, wife of Joseph Hardy Neesima *, Japanese novelist *, Japanese volleyball player *, Japanese woman kidnapped by North Korea * Yaeko Uehara, a geiko ...

Ichiko Kamichika Ichiko Kamichika (神近市子, ''Kamichika Ichiko'') (June 6, 1888 August 1, 1981) was a journalist, feminist, writer, translator, and critic. Her birth name was Ichi Kamichika and her pen name was Ei, Yo, or Ou Sakaki. After World War II, Ka ...

, Yamakawa Kikue,

Takamure Itsue was a Japanese poet, activist-writer, feminist, anarchist, ethnologist and historian. Biography Takamure was born into a poor family in rural Kumamoto Prefecture in 1894. Her father was a schoolteacher, and educated his daughter in classic ...

, Yoshiko Yuasa,

Miyamoto Yuriko was a Japanese novelist, short-story writer, social activist, and literary critic active during the Taishō and early Shōwa periods of Japan. She is best known for her autobiographical fiction and involvement in proletarian and women's libera ...

, Fumiko Hayashi,

Ineko Sata , also , born , was a Japanese writer closely connected to the Proletarian Literature Movement. An advocate of women's rights, she has also repeatedly been linked to the feminist movement. Biography Early life and career Born in Nagasaki to y ...

, Taiko Hirabayashi, Sasaki

Fumiko Enchi was the pen-name of Fumiko Ueda, one of the most prominent Japanese women writers in the Shōwa period of Japan. As a writer, Enchi is best known for her explorations into the ideas of sexuality, gender, human identity, and spirituality. Early l ...

, and Yoko Ota. In the magazine's later years, male authors like

Hajime Kawakami was a Japanese Marxist economist of the Taishō and early Shōwa periods. Biography Born in Yamaguchi, he graduated from Tokyo Imperial University. After writing for ''Yomiuri Shimbun'', he attained a professorship in economics at Kyoto Impe ...

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Eitaro Noro was a Japanese economic historian. Noro was born in Hokkaido in 1900. He studied at Keio Gijuku University, where he first became involved in radical politics. He worked for a labour research institute following graduation. In 1930 he joined the ...

, and Takiji Kobayashi also contributed. At first they published serialized novels, poems, essays, and reviews, but eventually they began publishing more pleasure reading and

proletarian fiction Proletarian literature refers here to the literature created by left-wing writers mainly for the class-conscious proletariat. Though the ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' states that because it "is essentially an intended device of revolution", it is ...

. However, it remained a fundamentally literary, left-leaning publication that reported on the

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, the

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, and international issues. They also published articles by anarchists like Yuriko Mochizuki and Aki Yagi, and communists like Yukiko Nakashima.

History

Notable contributors

References

Further reading