Yasuko Harada (January 12, 1928 October 20, 2009) was a Japanese novelist.

Early life and education

Harada was born on January 12, 1928, in

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 ...

. She and her family moved to

Kushiro, Hokkaido is a Cities of Japan, city in Kushiro Subprefecture on the island of Hokkaido, Japan. It serves as the subprefecture's capital and it is the most populated city in the eastern part of the island. Geography Mountains * Mount Oakan * Mount Mea ...

when she was a year old for her father's job. After getting

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

as a child, she had many health problems, including

nephritis Nephritis is inflammation of the kidneys and may involve the glomeruli, tubules, or interstitial tissue surrounding the glomeruli and tubules. It is one of several different types of nephropathy. Types * Glomerulonephritis is inflammation of th ...

. She read a lot while she was ill in bed, especially fairy tales from foreign countries. She began writing her own fairy tales during World War II. Toward the end of the war she had to work in a factory as part of the

National Mobilization Law was legislated in the Diet of Japan by Prime Minister Fumimaro Konoe on 24 March 1938 to put the national economy of the Empire of Japan on war-time footing after the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War. The National Mobilization Law had fifty c ...

. She hated it. After the war, Harada worked as a reporter for the Kushiro newspaper. She married Yoshio Sasaki in 1951.

Career

Harada's first books were serialized in magazines while she worked as a reporter. Her first published story, "Fuyu no ame", was published in 1949 in the ''Hokkaido Bungaku'' magazine. In 1954, her short story "Sabita no kioku" was praised by ''

Shinchō is a Japanese literary magazine published monthly by Shinchosha. Since its launch in 1904 it has published the works of many of Japan's leading writers. Along with '' Bungakukai'', ''Gunzo'', '' Bungei'' and ''Subaru'', it is one of the five ...

'' as one of the best short stories of the year, but ultimately did not win their literary prize. Her novel won a Women's Literature Prize, and was her only bestseller. It was made into a film that was directed by

Heinosuke Gosho was a Japanese film director and screenwriter who directed Japan's first sound film, '' The Neighbor's Wife and Mine'', in 1931. His films are mostly associated with the shomin-geki (lit. "common people drama") genre. Among his most noted works ...

. Her 1999 novel, ''Wax Tears'' (蝋涙) also won the Women's Literature Prize. Her 2003 book, ''Kaimu'' (海霧), won the Harada died of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...

Sapporo ( ain, サッ・ポロ・ペッ, Satporopet, lit=Dry, Great River) is a city in Japan. It is the largest city north of Tokyo and the largest city on Hokkaido, the northernmost main island of the country. It ranks as the fifth most populous city ...

on October 20, 2009.

Style

Harada's works were popular with young women in their twenties and thirties. Harada's books are usually about sensitive young women who suffer from various ailments. Her protagonists often long for the kind of love where they can feel protected and understood, but still have freedom and self-determination. Many of her books take place in her native Hokkaido. Harada's style has been compared to

Françoise Sagan Françoise Sagan (born Françoise Delphine Quoirez; 21 June 1935 – 24 September 2004) was a French playwright, novelist, and screenwriter. Sagan was known for works with strong romantic themes involving wealthy and disillusioned bourgeois chara ...

Selected bibliography

Short stories

* Fuyu no ame (冬の雨), 1949 * Sabita no kioku (サビタの記憶), 1954 * Yuki no su (雪の巣), 1954

Novels

*''Banka'' (挽歌), 1956 *''Itazura'' (いたずら), 1960 *''Yameru oka'' (病める丘), 1960 *''Satsujinsha'' (殺人者), 1962 *''Kita no hayashi'' (北の林), 1968 *''Niji'' (虹), 1975 *''Nichiyobi no shiroi kumo'' (日曜日の白い雲), 1979 *''Kaze no toride'' (風の砦), 1983 *''Kaimu'' (海霧), 2003

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harada, Yasuko 1928 births 2009 deaths Japanese women novelists People from Hokkaido Japanese journalists 20th-century journalists