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Saegusa Kazuko

さえぐさ かずこ

Saegusa Kazuko

Profile

Gender
Female
Born
1929-03-31 （Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan）
Died
2003-04-24 age 74
Nationality
Japan
Languages
Japanese
Residence History
Kobe, Hyogo, Japan → Tokyo, Japan

Career

Occupations
Novelist, Literary critic, Middle school teacher
Active Years
1963-2003
Affiliations
Japan PEN Club Women Writers Committee (Founding Chair)
Memberships
Japan PEN Club
Influenced By
, Tatsuya Morikawa

Education

Hyogo Normal School, Women's Division (Akashi Branch)
Women's Division (Akashi Branch)
Period: 〜1948年
Year of Graduation: 1948
Country: Japan
Completed teacher-training program
Kwansei Gakuin University, Faculty of Letters
Faculty of Letters / Department of Philosophy
Degree: 学士
Period: 入学〜1950年（卒業）
Year of Graduation: 1950
Country: Japan
Graduated 1950; entered the university's graduate literature master's program
Kwansei Gakuin University Graduate School, Graduate School of Literature (Master's course)
Graduate School of Letters
Period: 1950〜1951年（中退）
Country: Japan
Withdrew in 1951

Awards

Bungei Prize (2nd)
1963
Work: Sōsō no Asa
Result: Honorable mention
Tamura Toshiko Prize (10th)
1969
Work: Shokei ga Okonawareteiru
Result: Winner
Izumi Kyōka Literary Prize (11th)
1983
Work: Oni-domo no Yoru wa Fukai
Result: Winner
Murasaki Shikibu Literary Prize (10th)
2000
Work: Yakko no Kyō
Result: Winner

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Sōsō no Asa

1963 Novel

An early work that brought attention to the author; after this piece (honorable mention in the Bungei Prize) she continued to write experimental works employing anti-realist techniques.

DeathRitualFemale perspective

Kagami no Naka no Yami

1968 Novel

Published in 1968. One of her early representative works, dealing with inner darkness and reflections of the self.

SelfDarknessInteriority

Shokei ga Okonawareteiru

1969 Novel

Published in 1969; winner of the Tamura Toshiko Prize. A work that probes issues of social violence and justice.

JusticeViolenceSocial critique

Oni-domo no Yoru wa Fukai

1983 Novel

Published in 1983; winner of the Izumi Kyōka Literary Prize. A longer work that intersects traditional motifs with contemporary perspectives.

TraditionDarknessFemale figures

Yakko no Kyō

1999 Historical novel

Published in 1999. A historical novel set in the Heian period that portrays the ancient capital and power relations from a woman's perspective; won the Murasaki Shikibu Literary Prize in 2000.

Heian periodCourt lifeWomen's history

Bibliography

  • Kagami no Naka no Yami
  • Shokei ga Okonawareteiru
  • Shimen no Wareme
  • Hachigatsu no Shura
  • The City — Its Dark Parts
  • The Disappearance of Story
  • Scattered Reflections
  • Coffeehouse 'Mokuyōsha'
  • From Summer into Autumn Light
  • The Poet, the Courtesan, and the Baby
  • Love Novel
  • The Village Where the Moon Flies
  • Nomori no Kagami
  • Unexpectedly, the Wind's Butterfly
  • Sumidagawa Plain
  • Tanba Yano
  • Oni-domo no Yoru wa Fukai
  • Farewell, Era of Men
  • Notice of Collapse
  • Hanzo-in Diary
  • A Half-Moon Hanging in the Sky
  • Lycoris Burns
  • The Woman in the Shining Swamp
  • Women Fly to Antiquity
  • The Pact Between Netherworld and Affection
  • Greek Souvenir Comes with a Corpse
  • Stories of the Village of Clustered Clouds
  • That Summer's Day
  • Hibiko's Smile
  • Hibiko: Aizen
  • Hibiko: Akushu
  • Hibiko: Fusei
  • Novel: Sei Shōnagon 'Nagiko's Love'
  • Death of That Winter
  • Novel: Kagerō Diary 'The Love of Michitsuna's Mother / Neko's Love'
  • Men's Greek Tragedies
  • At the End of That Night
  • Izumi Shikibu 'Kyoko's Love'
  • Queen Himiko
  • The Pitfalls of Love Novels
  • Novel: Murasaki Shikibu 'Kōko's Love'
  • Ono no Komachi 'Yoshiko's Love'
  • A Petal of a Boat: The Life of Higuchi Ichiyō
  • In the Rain
  • Bloodstained Queen: Reviving Greek Tragedy
  • Novel: Cleopatra
  • Genji and Forbidden Love: Heian Women's Love and Marriage
  • Greek Myths for Women
  • Usoriyama Considered
  • An Introduction to Women's Philosophy
  • Legends Bound in Chains
  • Houseguests of the Gods
  • Elegy for the Izumo Dynasty
  • Living as a Woman
  • Flowers of Manyō: Novel of Sakagami no Iratsume
  • After the Siesta: Platoon and...
  • Okamoto Kanoko
  • Empress Suiko: Peach Blossoms Bloom in Ikaruga
  • Junior-In: Masako (Junwa-in Masako)
  • Yakko no Kyō
  • Empress: Hikata Kōjo
  • Villainesses of Greek Myth
  • Once Upon a Time: The Relationship Between the Cat and Me
  • The Black Cats' Turkish March

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Anti-realist techniquesExperimental proseWomen's perspective in historical fictionFeminist literary criticism
Recurring Motifs
Female subjectivityAncient and Heian-period womenLove and deathMyth and Greek tragedyDreams and memoryRituals

Legacy

A writer known for experimental works using anti-realist techniques and for historical novels depicting Heian and ancient women. She served as the first chair of the Japan PEN Club Women Writers Committee and left a legacy in feminist literary criticism. Her papers are held in local literary archives such as the Kobe Literature Museum.

Museums

  • Kobe Literature Museum Kobe, Hyogo, Japan

Academic Societies

  • Japan PEN Club

Archives

  • Holdings at the Kobe Literature Museum

Trivia

  • Maiden name was Shihon (旧姓: 四本).
  • Her husband was literary critic Tatsuya Morikawa.
  • Gained attention with 'Sōsō no Asa' (honorable mention in the Bungei Prize, 1963).
  • Published feminist literary criticism in 'The Pitfalls of Love Novels' (1991).
  • Served as the founding chair of the Japan PEN Club Women Writers Committee.