was a Japanese author. She graduated from the Department of Japanese Literature of Shōin Joshi Senmon Gakkō (now Osaka Shoin Women's University). Author of numerous novels, she won the

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 Th ...

Yomiuri Prize The is a literary award in Japan. The prize was founded in 1949 by the Yomiuri Shinbun Company to help form a "strong cultural nation". The winner is awarded two million Japanese yen and an inkstone. Award categories For the first two years, ...

, and

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 ...

, and received the

Order of Culture The is a Japanese order, established on February 11, 1937. The order has one class only, and may be awarded to men and women for contributions to Japan's art, literature, science, technology, or anything related to culture in general; recipient ...

for her contributions to literature. The honorific nicknamed the '' L. M. Montgomery of Japan'' after her death in 2019.

Biography

Tanabe was born on 27 March 1928. Her father was a photographer and operated a photography studio. She was familiar with the Japanese classic literatures since her young days. The cultures and tradition of her birthplace,

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of ...

, largely affected her life and literature. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, she engaged in the coterie activities while working in a company. Her novel ''Hanagari'' () in this period was nominated in the literature competition and adopted as a radio drama. In 1956, she won the Osaka Citizen Award for literature for her story ''Niji'' (). After that she became a professional writer. In 1964, she won the 50th

for her novel ''Sentimental Journey'' (, Kanshō Ryokō). In the following years, she wrote and published a wide range of literary works, such as novels of love romance, biographies, many essays of various themes including Japanese classic literature, translations and adaptations of the classic works of Japan such as the ''

Tale of Genji Tale may refer to: * Narrative, or story, a report of real or imaginary connected events * TAL effector (TALE), a type of DNA binding protein * Tale, Albania, a resort town * Tale, Iran, a village * Tale, Maharashtra, a village in Ratnagiri distri ...

'' and '' Makura no Sōshi''. She married Sumio Kawano () who had been a husband of her literary friend Shōko Kawano ( 川野彰子). After the death of Shōko, Tanabe married Kawano as a second wife in 1966, and lived with him until his death in 2002, for 36 years. They lived in Osaka, but in 1976, they moved to

Itami 270px, Gogadzuka Kofun 270px, Aerial view of Itami city center 270px, Konoike inari shihi 270px, Arioka Castle ruins ) is a city located in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 197,215 in 83580 households and a ...

city in

Hyōgo Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Hyōgo Prefecture has a population of 5,469,762 () and has a geographic area of . Hyōgo Prefecture borders Kyoto Prefecture to the east, Osaka Prefecture to the southeast, an ...

. Tanabe received various literary awards. In 2000, she became a

Person of Cultural Merit is an official Japanese recognition and honor which is awarded annually to select people who have made outstanding cultural contributions. This distinction is intended to play a role as a part of a system of support measures for the promotion of ...

and then, she received

for her literary contributions of Japanese culture in 2008. Her literary works had unique characteristics which reflected the cultures of Osaka and its dialect. She created successful love romances using Osaka dialect, which is one of

Kansai dialect The is a group of Japanese dialects in the Kansai region (Kinki region) of Japan. In Japanese, is the common name and it is called in technical terms. The dialects of Kyoto and Osaka are known as , and were particularly referred to as ...

. Tanabe died by

ascending cholangitis Ascending cholangitis, also known as acute cholangitis or simply cholangitis, is inflammation of the bile duct, usually caused by bacteria ascending from its junction with the duodenum (first part of the small intestine). It tends to occur if th ...

on 6 June 2019 at a hospital in

Kōbe Kobe ( , ; officially , ) is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture Japan. With a population around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Tokyo and Yokohama. It is located in Kansai region, which ...

, Hyōgo.Sankei news online
Retrieved June 10, 2019 (Japanese)

Prizes

* 1956 Osaka Citizen Award, for ''Niji'' ( 虹 ) * 1964 50th

for ''Kanshō ryokō'' ( 感傷旅行 ) * 1987 Women's Literature Award for ''Hanagoromo nuguya matsuwaru ... Waga ai no Sugita Hisajo'' ( 花衣ぬぐやまつわる......わが愛の杉田久女 ) * 1993 Yoshikawa Eiji Prize for Literature, for ''Hinekure Issa'' ( ひねくれ一茶 ) * 1994 42nd

Kikuchi Kan Prize The honors achievement in all aspects of Japanese literary culture. It was named in honor of Kikuchi Kan. The prize is presented annually by the literary magazine '' Bungei Shunjū'' and the Society for the Promotion of Japanese Literature. Hist ...

, for ''Hinekure Issa'' * 1998 26th

Izumi Kyōka Prize for Literature Izumi Kyōka Prize for Literature (, ''Izumi Kyōka Bungaku Shō'') is a prize for literature in Japan named for Kyōka Izumi. It was established and started in 1973 to commemorate the 100th year since the birth of Kyōka Izumi. Kanazawa city ...

, for ''Dōton-bori no ame ni wakarete irai nari - Senryū sakka Kishimoto Suifu to sono jidai'' ( 道頓堀の雨に別れて以来なり-川柳作家·岸本水府とその時代 ) * 1999 50th

for ''Dōton-bori no ame ni wakarete irai nari'' * 2007

Awards

* 2000

* 2008

Selected works

Novels

*''Hanakari'' () Touto shobou 1958 *''Kanshou ryokou (Sentimental journey)'' ()

Bungeishunjū is a Japanese publishing company known for its leading monthly magazine '' Bungeishunjū''. The company was founded by Kan Kikuchi in 1923. It grants the annual Akutagawa Prize, one of the most prestigious literary awards in Japan, as well as ...

, 1964 *''Amai kankei'' () San-ichi Publishing, 1968 *''Onna no hidokei'' ()

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 ...

, 1970 *'' Joze to tora to sakana-tachi'' ()

Kadokawa Shoten , formerly , is a Japanese publisher and division of Kadokawa Future Publishing based in Tokyo, Japan. It became an internal division of Kadokawa Corporation on October 1, 2013. Kadokawa publishes manga, light novels, manga anthology magazines ...

1985 *''Fukigenna koibito'' ()

, 1988 *''Hinekure Issa'' ()

Kodansha is a Japanese privately-held publishing company headquartered in Bunkyō, Tokyo. Kodansha is the largest Japanese publishing company, and it produces the manga magazines ''Nakayoshi'', '' Afternoon'', '' Evening'', ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' ...

, 1992

Essays

*''Onna no nagaburo'' ()

, 1973 *''Eve no okurege'' ()

, 1975 *''Raamen nieta mo gozonjinai'' () Shinchosha, 1977 *''Rakurōshō'' 1, 2, 3, 4 ()

Shueisha (lit. "Gathering of Intellect Publishing Co., Ltd.") is a Japanese company headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. The company was established in 1925 as the entertainment-related publishing division of Japanese publisher Shogakukan. The fol ...

, 1999, 2007, 2008, 2009

Translations and adaptations of classic Japanese works

*''Mae mae, katatsumuri, Shin Ochikubo monogatari'' ()

, 1977 *''Shin Genji monogatari'' () Shinchosha, 1978–79 *''Shihon Genji monogatari'' ()

Jitsugyo no Nihon Sha is a Japanese publishing company founded on June 10, 1897. Magazines Monthly *''Body+'' *''Comic Candoll'' *''GarrRV'' *''Garuru'' *''Misty'' *''Monthly Bijutsu'' *''Monthly J-novel'' *''Waggle'' Quarterly *''Kabuka Yohō'' *''NAIL VENUS'' Def ...

, 1980 *''Haru no mezame wa Murasaki no maki, Shin shihon Genji monogatari'' ()

, 1983 *''Mukashi akebono, shousetsu Makura no sōshi'' ()

, 1983 *''Tanabe Seiko no

Ogura hyakunin isshu is a classical Japanese anthology of one hundred Japanese ''waka'' by one hundred poets. ''Hyakunin isshu'' can be translated to "one hundred people, one poem ach; it can also refer to the card game of ''uta-garuta'', which uses a deck compos ...

'' ()

, 1986 *''Tanabe Seiko no

Kojiki The , also sometimes read as or , is an early Japanese chronicle of myths, legends, hymns, genealogies, oral traditions, and semi-historical accounts down to 641 concerning the origin of the Japanese archipelago, the , and the Japanese imperia ...

'' ()

, Watashi no koten 1986 *''Kiri fukaki Uji no koi, Shin Genji monogatari'' () Shinchosha, 1990

Biographies

*''Hanagoromo nuguya matsuwaru ... Waga ai no Sugita Hisajo'' ()

, 1987 *''Douton-bori no ame ni wakarete irai nari - Senryuu sakka Kishimoto Suifu to sono jidai'' ()

Chuokoron-Shinsha is a Japanese publisher. It was established in 1886, under the name . In 1999, it was acquired by The Yomiuri Shimbun Holdings, and its name was subsequently changed to Chūōkōron-shinsha. Profile The company publishes a wide variety of mater ...

, 1998

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tanabe, Seiko 1928 births 2019 deaths Japanese women novelists Yomiuri Prize winners Akutagawa Prize winners Recipients of the Order of Culture Writers from Osaka 20th-century Japanese novelists 21st-century Japanese novelists