Japanese Literary Awards

← Back to Home

Shigure Hasegawa

はせがわ しぐれ

Hasegawa Shigure

Aliases: 長谷川ヤス / 水橋康子 / しぐれ女 / 長谷川康子 / 奈々子
Pen Names: Yasuko Mizuhashi（Used her married name as a pen name early in her career）, Shigure Onna（One of her early pen names）, Yasuko Hasegawa（Occasional pen name）, Nanako（A short-lived pen name）

Profile

Gender
Female
Born
1879-10-01 （Tsuyu-cho, Nihonbashi, Tokyo-fu (now Nihonbashi Odenmacho, Chuo-ku, Tokyo)）
Died
1941-08-22 （Keio University Hospital, Tokyo (Yotsuya, present-day Shinjuku)） age 61
Nationality
Japan
Languages
Japanese
Residence History
Nihonbashi, Tokyo (birthplace) → Kamaishi, Iwate Prefecture → Tsukudajima, Tokyo → Tsurumi, Yokohama → Akasaka Hinokicho (residence and publishing office)

Career

Occupations
playwright, novelist, magazine editor, newspaper editor, women's rights activist
Active Years
1901-1941
Affiliations
Nyonin Geijutsu (Women's Art) magazine/publisher, Kagaya-kai (group behind the magazine 'Kagayaku'/'Kagaku'), Dance Association (co-founded), Kyogenza (theatrical troupe, co-founded)
Memberships
Dance Association, Kyogenza, Nyonin Geijutsu (as editor/publisher)
Influenced By
Tsubouchi Shōyō, Sasaki Nobutsuna, Tokutarō Nakatani
Influenced
Fumiko Hayashi, Fumiko Enchi, Mori Mari, Raichō Hiratsuka, Teijo Nakamura

Education

Akiyama Gensen Elementary (terakoya-style substitute school)
Period: 5歳から12歳ごろ
Country: Japan
Received terakoya-style early education.
Girls' language school in Tsukiji (now Futaba Gakuen primary)
Period: 初等科在学（期間不明）
Country: Japan
Attended a girls' school in Tsukiji (elementary level).
Chikuhakuen (study circle of Sasaki Nobutsuna)
Period: 17歳頃（肋膜炎療養後に通学）
Country: Japan
Studied classical literature at Sasaki Nobutsuna's Chikuhakuen.

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Kaichōon (The Sound of the Tides)

1905 Play (one-act)

A one-act play that won a Yomiuri Newspaper prize. It was recognized by Tsubouchi Shōyō and led to her studying under him.

women's fatefamily and traditiontheatrical expression
Adaptations
  • [Stage] Kaichōon (stage production) (1908)

Haōmaru (retitled 'Kaōmaru')

1908 Historical drama

A historical drama that won a script contest held by the Japan Maritime Association. Retitled 'Kaōmaru' it was staged at Kabukiza and drew attention.

historysamurai and honor
Adaptations
  • [Kabuki (stage)] Kaōmaru (Kabukiza production) (1908)

Ejima Ikushima

1913 Dance-drama / Play

A dance-drama first presented on stage; it became one of her representative plays with repeated revivals.

women in historydance and legend
Adaptations
  • [Stage] Ejima Ikushima (stage productions) (1913)

Old Tales of Nihonbashi

1935 Memoir / Essays (serialized then published as a book)

A memoir depicting life around Nihonbashi, family, and local people with careful observation. Serialized 1929–1932 and published in book form in 1935.

urban lifewomen's perspectivesocial change

Tales of Japanese Beauties

1911 Biographical sketches (beauty biographies)

A collection of biographical sketches of notable women; originally published and well received in newspapers and magazines.

women's historybiographyaesthetics

Uzumibi

1901 Short story

Her debut short story, which won a special prize in the magazine 'Jogaku Sekai'.

women's perspectivepopular literary elements

Bibliography

  • Tales of Japanese Beauties
  • Enji-den (Crimson Tales)
  • Bijin-den (Beauty Sketches)
  • Tales of Notable Women
  • Women of Passion
  • The Maiden Era
  • Spring Birds (co-authored)
  • Old Tales of Nihonbashi
  • Sogyo (Grass Fish)
  • Modern Tales of Beauties
  • Spring Sash: Meiji-Taisho Women Selections
  • Commentary on Ichiyō's Collected Novels
  • Kimono
  • Peach
  • Red Lamp Dutch Ship
  • Shigure Script Collection Vol.1
  • The Collected Works of Shigure Hasegawa (5 vols.)

Adaptations

  • Kaichōon (staged at Shintomiza and other theatres)
  • Kaōmaru (Kabukiza production)
  • Ejima Ikushima (repeated stage revivals)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
popular-literature narrative stylememoir-like, reflective prosedramatic, dialogue-driven writing
Recurring Motifs
women's lives and rolesbiographical sketches of notable womenlife in downtown/urban settings

Health

  • pleurisy
    17歳頃（若年期）
    Illness required convalescence; it led her to study classical literature.
  • agranulocytopenia (granulocytopenia)
    1941年8月
    Fell ill and died at Keio Hospital; this condition is recorded as her cause of death.

Legacy

Through founding and editing the magazine Nyonin Geijutsu and promoting female writers, she significantly contributed to the formation of the women's literary world in modern Japan and advocated for women's social status. Her plays, fiction, and essays influenced popular literature and many subsequent women writers.

Museums

  • Shigure Hasegawa Literary Monument (Sōjiji Temple) Sōjiji Temple, Tsurumi, Yokohama

Academic Societies

  • Museum of Modern Japanese Literature

Archives

  • National Diet Library (catalogue / holdings)
  • Museum of Modern Japanese Literature (related materials)
  • Aozora Bunko (online texts)

In Popular Culture

  • Considered one of the models for the character 'Hasebe Tei' in the NHK drama 'Hanako to Anne' (2014)

Quotes

  • "Is it Shigure of the beauty sketches, or the beauty sketches of Shigure?"
    Source: Contemporary newspaper commentary (1911)
  • Hiding from my mother who said women need not learn, I read books...
    Source: Autobiographical essays (e.g., Old Tales of Nihonbashi) (1935)

Trivia

  • Birth name was Yas (Yasu) Hasegawa (Yasuko).
  • Debut work was the short story 'Uzumibi' (1901).
  • Founded the magazine 'Nyonin Geijutsu' in 1928 to foster female writers.
  • Buried at Sōjiji Temple in Tsurumi, Yokohama.
  • Her common-law husband was Otokichi Mikami; she supported his literary career at times.