is a Japanese novelist. She is best known for ''The Phoenix Tree (Aogiri)'', which won the 1985

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 ...

Early life

Kizaki was born on November 6, 1939, in Hsin Cheng,

Manchuria Manchuria is an exonym (derived from the endo demonym " Manchu") for a historical and geographic region in Northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day Northeast China (Inner Manchuria) and parts of the Russian Far East (Outer Manc ...

. Her birth name is Masako Yokoyama. After Japan's defeat in World War II, Kizaki and her family returned to Japan, where her father worked as a chemistry professor in

Toyama prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Toyama Prefecture has a population of 1,044,588 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 4,247.61 km2 (1,640.01 sq mi). Toyama Prefecture borders Ishikawa Prefecture to the ...

. She graduated from in 1960.

Career

After graduation Kizaki worked at

Teijin is a Japanese chemical industry, chemical, pharmaceutical industry, pharmaceutical and information technology company. Its main fields of operation are high-performance fibers such as aramid, carbon fibers & composites, healthcare, films, resin & ...

. She married her husband, a botanist named Hiromu Harada, in 1962, and they both moved to France and had two daughters. They briefly lived in

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. I ...

, but soon returned to France. She studied comparative literature at the

University of Paris , image_name = Coat of arms of the University of Paris.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of Arms , latin_name = Universitas magistrorum et scholarium Parisiensis , motto = ''Hic et ubique terrarum'' (Latin) , mottoeng = Here and a ...

from 1976 to 1979. She returned to Japan in 1979, and began writing novels, short stories, and essays. In 1980 Kizaki was awarded Bugakukai Prize for New Writers for her debut story, ''Rasoku''. Her novel '' Shizumeru Tera'' received the

Ministry of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

's Geijutsu Sensho New Writer's Award. She was awarded the Akutagawa Prize for ''Aogiri'', in 1985. It is a story about a young woman who nurses her aunt as she dies of

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 ...

. Though she was awarded the prize two members of the committee were critical of ''Aogiri.'' Hideo Nakamura thought it was unlikely that the aunt would choose to die of cancer, while

Saiichi Maruya was a Japanese author and literary critic. Biography Maruya, whose real name was Saiichi Nemura, was born in Tsuruoka city, Yamagata Prefecture on August 27, 1925. His father was a doctor, and apparently wealthy enough to have a big personal li ...

said that her portrayal of the aunt was irresponsible to her readers and the characters. On the other hand,

Fumio Niwa was a Japanese novelist with a long list of works, the most famous in the West being his novel ''The Buddha Tree'' (Japanese ''Bodaiju'', "The Linden", or "The Bodhi Tree", 1956). He was ordained as a Shin Buddhist priest in his youth, but aba ...

was impressed with her portrayal, and Shotaro Yasuoka and Shusaku Endo were impressed that she chose to write about a cancer patient at all. Kizaki was baptized into the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

in 1982, which may explain the Christian themes in her work. Her work tends to be about women who overcome physical or spiritual problems. Kizaki has said that she draws spiritual guidance from

Thérèse of Lisieux Thérèse of Lisieux (french: Thérèse de Lisieux ), born Marie Françoise-Thérèse Martin (2 January 1873 – 30 September 1897), also known as Saint Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face (), was a French Catholic Discalced Carmelite ...

. Her work also hints at mysteries with deep, meaningful answers that end up having simple explanations.

Publications

* Bare feet (, 1982 * '' The Phoenix Tree and Other Stories'' (), 1985 *, 1985 * '' The Sunken Temple'' (, 1987 *, 1988 *, 1989 *, 1990 *, 1990 *, 1991 *, 1991 *, 1994 *, 1996 *, 1999 *, 1999 *, 1999 *, 2002 *, 2004

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kizaki, Satoko 1939 births Living people Japanese women novelists Japanese novelists