Japanese Literary Awards

← Back to Home

Kunie Iwahashi

いわはし くにえ

Iwahashi Kunie

Aliases: 根本 邦枝
Pen Names: Kunie Iwahashi（Pen name (real name: Nemoto Kunie)）

Profile

Gender
Female
Born
1934-10-10 （Hiroshima City, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan）
Died
2014-06-11 （Chuo Ward, Fukuoka City, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan） age 79
Nationality
Japan
Languages
Japanese
Residence History
Hiroshima City (birthplace) → Saga City (evacuated as a child) → Tokyo (education and literary career) → Fukuoka City (later life)

Career

Occupations
Novelist, Translator, Essayist, Reportage writer, Columnist
Active Years
1954-2014
Affiliations
Japan Writers' Association (director), Nitta Jiro Literary Prize Selection Committee (member)
Memberships
Japan Writers' Association (director), Nitta Jiro Literary Prize Selection Committee (member)
Influenced By
Yasunari Kawabata, Hiroshi Noma
Nominations
Akutagawa Prize nominee 'Koseki no Fukamari' (1975), Akutagawa Prize nominee 'Fuyuzora' (1976)

Education

Ochanomizu University
Faculty of Education
Period: 1950s–1957
Year of Graduation: 1957
Country: Japan

Awards

Hirabayashi Taiko Literary Prize
1982
Work: Shallow Sleep
Organization: Hirabayashi Taiko Literary Prize Committee
Result: 受賞
Art Encouragement Prize (New Artist)
1986
Work: Companion
Organization: Agency for Cultural Affairs (Art Encouragement Prize)
Result: 受賞
Women's Literary Prize
1992
Work: Floating Bridge
Organization: Women's Literary Prize Committee
Result: 受賞
Nitta Jiro Literary Prize
1994
Work: Biography: Hasegawa Shigure
Organization: Nitta Jiro Literary Prize Committee
Result: 受賞
Murasaki Shikibu Literary Prize
2012
Work: Biography: Nogami Yaeko — From the Maze to the Forest
Organization: Murasaki Shikibu Literary Prize Committee
Result: 受賞
Rennyo Prize
2012
Work: Biography: Nogami Yaeko — From the Maze to the Forest
Organization: Rennyo Prize Committee
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Backlight

1956 Short story collection

An early collection of short stories capturing youth and societal change with a sharp eye.

YouthUrban life and young peopleSex and violence
Adaptations
  • [Film] Backlight / 古川卓巳 (1956)

Thirst for Honey

1972 Novel

A novel from the 1970s exploring the inner conflicts of women.

Women's independencePsychological portrait

Shallow Sleep

1981 Novel

A delicate depiction of familial and personal loss; awarded the Hirabayashi Taiko Literary Prize.

LossFamily relationshipsSolitude

Companion

1985 Novel

A work dealing with the death of her husband; recipient of the Art Encouragement Prize (New Artist).

Loss and recoveryAgingMarital relationships

Floating Bridge

1992 Novel

A novel about women's lives and struggles; awarded the Women's Literary Prize.

Women's livesIntergenerational conflict

Biography: Hasegawa Shigure

1993 Biography

A biographical study tracing the life and works of female writer Hasegawa Shigure.

Study of women writersModern literary history

Biography: Nogami Yaeko — From the Maze to the Forest

2011 Biography

An in-depth biography of Nogami Yaeko; recipient of the Murasaki Shikibu Literary Prize and the Rennyo Prize.

History of women's literatureBiographical writing

Bibliography

  • Backlight (Mikasa Shobo) 1956
  • Thirst for Honey (Jitsugyo no Nihonsha) 1972
  • A Quiet Short Afternoon (Kawade Shobo Shinsha) 1976
  • Shallow Sleep (Kodansha) 1981
  • Love and Rebellion: Women Who Created Modern Women's History (Kodansha) 1984
  • Midsummer Day (Kodansha) 1984
  • Companion (Shinchosha) 1985
  • Iwahashi Kunie's Haikai Collections (Shueisha) 1987
  • In the Hollow Sky (Kodansha) 1987
  • Stray Bird (Kodansha) 1988
  • Time of Hesitation (Kodansha) 1989
  • Spring of the Reclaimed Land: Selected Short Stories (Gakugei Shorin) 1989
  • The Five Lustful Women (Kodansha) 1990
  • Floating Bridge (Kodansha) 1992
  • Biography: Hasegawa Shigure (Chikuma Shobo) 1993
  • Ephemeral Autumn (Shinchosha) 1995
  • Fire of Dreams (Kodansha) 1999
  • Moonlight (Kodansha) 2002
  • Biography: Nogami Yaeko — From the Maze to the Forest (Shinchosha) 2011

Adaptations

  • Backlight (film adaptation, dir. Takumi Furukawa, 1956)
  • Joshi Ryosai (film adaptation)

Translations by Author

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Realistic prose with sharp observationDelicate depictions of women's inner lives
Recurring Motifs
Women's independence and conflictLoss and recoveryFamily relationships

Health

  • Generalized peritonitis
    2014-06-11
    Hospitalized with generalized peritonitis in June 2014; cause of death.

Legacy

A writer who contributed to postwar and modern Japanese women's literature and biographical studies; known for prize-winning novels and biographies.

Academic Societies

  • Japan Writers' Association

Archives

  • Holdings at the National Diet Library (works and materials)
  • CiNii (scholarly and bibliographic records)

In Popular Culture

  • The film adaptation of the short story 'Backlight' has been discussed in connection with youth culture of the time and media reports of an associated incident after screenings.

Trivia

  • She was once dubbed 'the female Shintaro Ishihara' by the press.
  • Noted for riding a motorcycle in her youth, an uncommon image for women at the time.
  • The film adaptation of 'Backlight' was later connected in media reports to a violent incident that occurred in 1956.