樋口一葉全集 [Higuchi Ichiyō zenshū]

by Ichiyō Higuchi

Japanese

1160 pages, Tankobon Hardcover

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

See also 樋口 一葉.

Pen name of poet and writer Natsu Higuchi. She studied at the Haginosha school of poetry run by Utako Nakajima and showed talent from early on. After her father’s death in 1889, she began writing novels to make a living, but she also had a sideline business, a general merchandise store, because she could not survive on income from writing alone. In less than a year from the end of 1894, she successively published such masterpieces as Otsugumori (The Last Day of the Year), Take Kurabe (Comparing Heights), Nigorie (Troubled Waters), and Jusanya (13th Night). She died at the young age of 24 from tuberculosis.

Her image currently appears on the Japanese 5000-yen banknote.

Reviews

[Alice Jennings · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read a few of her stories, particularly 'Growing up'. She's a typical, 20th century female writer in that her style is not very sophisticated due to a simple education and her characters are typical of the lower class. However her stories were ahead of their time as they draw out the issues of the lower class, demonstrating how in such a rigid society a persons class and money determined their career and friends unlike when you're a child when you have the freedom. However it doesn't determine how good a person you are, though your parents could influence you. Worth a read to put Tokugawa class conflict in perspective.