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Yuriko Takeda

たけだ ゆりこ

Takeda Yuriko

Profile

Gender
Female
Born
1925-09-25 （Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan）
Died
1993-05-27 （Kitasato University Hospital, Kanagawa, Japan） age 67
Nationality
Japan
Languages
Japanese
Religion
Buddhism
Residence History
Yokohama (birthplace) → Meguro (Nagasen-in; residence) → Akasaka, Minato, Tokyo (residence) → Fuji-Ozakura Highlands, Yamanashi (Takeda mountain villa)

Career

Occupations
essayist, writer, diarist
Active Years
1943-1993
Influenced By
Muroo Saisei
Influenced
Takeda Taijun

Education

Yokohama Daini Girls' High School (now Kanagawa Prefectural Yokohama Tachino High School)
Period: 〜1943
Year of Graduation: 1943
Country: Japan
Participated in the literary coterie magazine 'Kahigara', submitting poems and prose while at school

Awards

Tamura Toshiko Prize
1977
Work: Fuji Diary
Organization: Tamura Toshiko Prize Committee
Result: 受賞
Yomiuri Literary Prize
1980
Work: A Dog Saw the Stars — Russian Travels
Category: 随筆・紀行
Organization: The Yomiuri Shimbun
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Fuji Diary

1977 essays / diary

A diary chronicling life at the mountain villa and daily interactions with her husband Takeda Taijun. Praised for its candid perspective and plainspoken prose; brought Takeda wide recognition.

daily lifemarital relationsnature (Mount Fuji)death and bereavement

A Dog Saw the Stars — Russian Travels

1979 travelogue / essays

A travelogue of visits to the Soviet Union and Northern Europe. Noted for observational detail and gentle humor; won the Yomiuri Literary Prize.

travellandscapeencounters with other cultures

Table of Words

1984 essays

A collection of essays on words and expression, delicately exploring the relationship between language and everyday life.

languagereadingfood and daily life

Excursion Diary

1987 essays / diary

Records of walks and travels interspersed with photographs by her daughter Takeda Hana. Captures fragments of daily life with sensitivity.

travelmemoryfamily

Daily Notes

1992 diary / essays

A diary collection compiling serialized magazine entries. Includes reflections on aging and awareness of approaching death; regarded as a major late work.

daily lifeagingawareness of mortality

Bibliography

  • Fuji Diary
  • A Dog Saw the Stars — Russian Travels
  • Table of Words
  • Excursion Diary
  • Daily Notes
  • Complete Works of Yuriko Takeda (7 vols.)
  • Selected Women's Essays 5: Yuriko Takeda (ed. Hiromi Kawakami)
  • Those Days: Uncollected Essays (ed. Takeda Hana)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
diaristic, candid, and plain styleintimate, snapshot-like observationa voice combining humor and severity
Recurring Motifs
everyday lifefoodtravelMount Fujideath and loss

Health

  • cirrhosis
    最晩年（〜1993）
    Died of cirrhosis in 1993. Late diaries record an awareness of impending death.

Legacy

She captivated many readers through candid essays and diaries rooted in everyday life. Major works such as 'Fuji Diary' and 'A Dog Saw the Stars' received critical acclaim, and posthumous collected editions and studies have been published. However, per her will many notebooks and manuscripts were destroyed, limiting available archival material.

Archives

  • Chuo Koron-sha (publisher archives and editions)
  • Private holdings (materials curated/held by her daughter Takeda Hana)

In Popular Culture

  • KAWADE Yume Mook: Bungei Special 'Yuriko Takeda' (2004)
  • Reminiscences by Takeda Hana in the launch issue of the magazine 'Ku:nel'

Quotes

  • Burn my papers after my death.
    Source: Will (request to her daughter Takeda Hana) (1993)

Trivia

  • Her husband was novelist Takeda Taijun; she gained recognition after publishing 'Fuji Diary' about life with him.
  • She spent much of her later life at the Takeda mountain villa in the Fuji-Ozakura highlands, Yamanashi.
  • Per her will, many diaries and manuscripts were destroyed by her daughter Takeda Hana after her death.
  • Her daughter Takeda Hana is a photographer.