was a Japanese novelist. She was awarded the prestigious

Naoki Prize The Naoki Prize, officially , is a Japanese literary award presented biannually. It was created in 1935 by Kikuchi Kan, then editor of the ''Bungeishunjū'' magazine, and named in memory of novelist Naoki Sanjugo. Sponsored by the Society for ...

in 1996 for the novel ''Yamahaha''.

Life

Born in

Sakawa Sakawa is a Ghanaian term for illegal practices which combine modern Internet-based fraud with African traditionalist rituals. The term or word Sakawa is an Hausa word which means ''putting inside, how to make money''. The rituals, which are most ...

, Takaoka District,

Kōchi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Shikoku. Kōchi Prefecture has a population of 669,516 (1 April 2023) and has a geographic area of 7,103 km2 (2,742 sq mi). Kōchi Prefecture borders Ehime Prefecture to the northwest and Tok ...

, she graduated from

Nara Women's University is a national women's university located in Nara, Nara Prefecture, Japan. It is one of two national women's universities in the country, the other being Ochanomizu University.For more about the legal status of "national universities" in Japan, ...

, after which she studied for a while at the

Polytechnic University of Milan The Polytechnic University of Milan (, abbreviated as PoliMi) is a university in Milan, Italy. It is the largest technical university in the country, with about 40,000 enrolled students. The university offers undergraduate, graduate, and higher ...

. After returning to Japan, she became a freelance writer. She lived for some time in

Tahiti Tahiti (; Tahitian language, Tahitian , ; ) is the largest island of the Windward Islands (Society Islands), Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France. It is located in the central part of t ...

and

Lido di Venezia The Lido, or Venice Lido (), is an barrier island in the Venetian Lagoon, Northern Italy; it is home to about 20,400 residents. The Venice Film Festival takes place at the Lido in late August/early September. Geography The Lido island is o ...

, and opened an Italian café in 2009 in her home province, Kōchi. After being diagnosed with

tongue cancer Oral cancer, also known as oral cavity cancer, tongue cancer or mouth cancer, is a cancer of the lining of the lips, mouth, or upper throat. In the mouth, it most commonly starts as a painless red or white patch, that thickens, gets ulcerated ...

in 2013, she died on January 27, 2014.

The kitten-killing incident

In August 2006, in two separate essays in the ''

Nihon Keizai Shimbun ''The Nikkei'', also known as , is the flagship publication of Nikkei, Inc. (based in Tokyo) and the world's largest financial newspaper, with a daily circulation exceeding 1.73 million copies. The Nikkei 225, a stock market index for the Tokyo ...

'', she revealed that she had killed kittens by throwing them off a cliff while living in Tahiti.

Yuriko Koike Yuriko Koike (小池百合子, Koike Yuriko; born 15 July 1952) is a Japanese politician who has served as the Governor of Tokyo since 2016. Previously, she was also served as a member of the House of Councillors from 1992 to 1993, a member o ...

, who was Japan's minister of the environment at the time, said that "what Ms. Bandō had done was regrettable from the point of view of an animal lover". About a month later, the Polynesian government was reported to have begun investigating it as a case of

animal cruelty Cruelty to animals, also called animal abuse, animal neglect or animal cruelty, is the infliction of suffering or Injury, harm by humans upon animals, either by omission (neglect) or by commission. More narrowly, it can be the causing of harm ...

. Bandō rebuked the criticism in the ''

Mainichi Shimbun The is one of the major newspapers in Japan, published by In addition to the ''Mainichi Shimbun'', which is printed twice a day in several local editions, Mainichi also operates an English-language news website called , and publishes a bilin ...

''s Tokyo evening edition, saying that as long as there was no official report from the Polynesian government's side, she considered the criticism against her to be a case of suppression of

freedom of speech Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The rights, right to freedom of expression has been r ...

Awards

*1982 The Mainichi Children's Literature Award for Newcomers *1994 The first Japan Horror Fiction Award *1996 The third Shimase Renai Literature Award *1996 The 116th

*2002 The 15th Shibata Renzaburō Award

References

External links

Profile
at J'Lit Books from Japan {{DEFAULTSORT:Bando, Masako 1958 births 2014 deaths Japanese women novelists 20th-century Japanese women writers 21st-century Japanese women writers Writers from Kōchi Prefecture Deaths from oral cancer Deaths from cancer in Japan Animal cruelty incidents Nara Women's University alumni