Japanese Literary Awards

← Back to Home

Sumie Tanaka

たなか すみえ

Tanaka Sumie

Profile

Gender
Female
Born
1908-04-11 （Kita-Toshima District, Tokyo Prefecture, Japan）
Died
2000-03-01 （Kiyose, Tokyo, Japan） age 91
Nationality
Japan
Languages
Japanese
Religion
Catholicism Baptized in 1951
Residence History
Kugenuma, Fujisawa (formerly Fujisawa Town), Kanagawa, Japan → Tottori (evacuated during WWII), Japan → Kyoto, Japan (moved postwar) → Nakano Ward, Tokyo, Japan → Kiyose, Tokyo, Japan (later life)

Career

Occupations
Author, Screenwriter, Essayist, Playwright, Lyricist, Broadcast writer
Active Years
1932-2000
Affiliations
Japan PEN Club, Japan Theatre Association, Japan Writers' Association, Japan Broadcast Writers Association
Memberships
Japan PEN Club, Japan Theatre Association, Japan Writers' Association, Japan Broadcast Writers Association
Influenced By
Kido Okamoto, Kan Kikuchi, Chikao Tanaka, Fumiko Hayashi

Education

Tokyo Women's Higher Normal School (now Ochanomizu University)
Japanese Literature / Department of Japanese Literature
Year of Graduation: 1932
Country: Japan
After graduation she taught at Sacred Heart Girls' School (Seishin).

Awards

Blue Ribbon Awards (Film)
1951
Work: Wagaya wa Tanoshii; Shōnenki; Meshi (screenplays)
Category: 脚本賞
Organization: Association of Tokyo Film Journalists (Blue Ribbon Awards)
Result: 受賞
NHK Broadcasting Culture Award
1952
Organization: NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation)
Result: 受賞
Art Festival Prize
1971
Work: NHK 'Nagasaki no Hisen' (lyrics)
Category: 優秀賞（音楽放送部門）
Organization: Japan Art Festival (sponsored by Agency for Cultural Affairs)
Result: 受賞
Art Encouragement Prize: Minister of Education Award
1973
Work: Kakitsubata Gunraku (Iris Colony)
Category: 文学・評論部門
Organization: Art Encouragement Prize (Agency for Cultural Affairs)
Result: 受賞
Purple Ribbon Medal
1977
Organization: Government of Japan
Result: 受章
Order of the Precious Crown, Fourth Class
1984
Organization: Government of Japan
Result: 受章
Yomiuri Literature Prize
1980
Work: Hana no Hyakumeizan (Flower's Hundred Famous Mountains)
Category: 随筆紀行賞
Organization: Yomiuri Shimbun
Result: 受賞
Murasaki Shikibu Literary Prize
1996
Work: Otto no Shimatsu (Handling of My Husband)
Organization: Murasaki Shikibu Prize Committee
Result: 受賞
Women's Literature Prize
1996
Work: Otto no Shimatsu (Handling of My Husband)
Category: 第35回
Organization: Women's Literature Prize Committee
Result: 受賞
Avon Women's Awards
1997
Category: 功績賞
Organization: Avon Products
Result: 受賞
Tokyo Honorary Citizen
1999
Organization: Tokyo Metropolitan Government
Result: 授与

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Wagaya wa Tanoshii (Our Home Is Joyful)

1951 Film screenplay

A 1951 film screenplay portraying everyday family life and interpersonal relationships.

familywomen's roleseveryday life
Adaptations
  • [Film] Wagaya wa Tanoshii / 中村登 (1951)

Shōnenki (Boyhood)

1951 Film screenplay

A screenplay for a film directed by Keisuke Kinoshita, focusing on a boy's coming-of-age.

coming of agefamilyeducation
Adaptations
  • [Film] Shōnenki / 木下惠介 (1951)

Meshi (Meal)

1951 Film screenplay

A screenplay for Mikio Naruse's film that depicts human relationships around home and meals.

daily lifefamilyfood
Adaptations
  • [Film] Meshi / 成瀬巳喜男 (1951)

Hana no Hyakumeizan (Flowers of a Hundred Famous Mountains)

1980 Essays / Travel writing

An essay collection expressing love for mountains and the flowers that bloom there; well known among mountain enthusiasts.

mountainsnatureflowersmountaineering

Otto no Shimatsu (Handling of My Husband)

1995 Novel

A novel that sensitively depicts marital relationships and aging; winner of the 1996 Women's Literature Prize.

marriagespousal relationsaging

Bibliography

  • Wagaya wa Tanoshii
  • Shōnenki
  • Meshi
  • To Love
  • Sumie Tanaka Broadcast Plays: Eight Modern Women
  • When the Cows Speak
  • Complete Plays of Sumie Tanaka
  • Seventeen's Diary
  • School for Brides
  • Miotsukushi's Bell
  • Town with Wind
  • A Story of Dogs and Cats
  • Rainbow
  • Kakitsubata Gunraku (Iris Colony)
  • Flower Wheel
  • Hana no Hyakumeizan (Flowers of a Hundred Famous Mountains)
  • Meet Old Age Head On
  • Otto no Shimatsu (Handling of My Husband)
  • Mountains Prolong Life
  • My Emotional Support

Adaptations

  • Film adaptations (Meshi; Wagaya wa Tanoshii; Shōnenki, etc.)
  • Television adaptations (NHK morning dramas such as 'Uzushio' and 'Niji', etc.)

Translations by Author

  • Anne's Tales (text by Sumie Tanaka, translated by Kazuko Kijima / Shogakukan, 1977)
  • Samantha Carroll 'The Touch of Silk' (edited/translated)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Intimate narrative voice portraying women's psychologyIn essays, a calm observational style focusing on mountains and flowersScreenplays employ realism with naturalistic dialogue
Recurring Motifs
flowersmountainswomen's independence and familyaging and life's maturation

Health

  • senility / old age
    晩年
    Activity decreased in later years but she continued to write.

Legacy

Active across film and television screenwriting, essays and novels in postwar Japan, she was especially praised for essays about women, mountains and flowers. She founded and led women's mountain-walking groups and was socially active; her contributions to literature and culture are widely recognized.

Museums

  • Yomesai-no-Hana Museum Built at her private residence (location: variously reported) Opened in 1988

Academic Societies

  • Japan PEN Club
  • Japan Writers' Association
  • Japan Theatre Association

Archives

  • NHK Archives (likely holds related materials)
  • National Diet Library (holds publications)

In Popular Culture

  • Known for NHK morning dramas and numerous film screenplays; widely recognized by the public
  • 'Hana no Hyakumeizan' is widely read among mountain and flower enthusiasts
  • Organized and led the women's mountain-walking group 'Takamizu-kai' beginning in 1967

Trivia

  • From 1967 she organized and led a women's mountain-walking club called 'Takamizu-kai'.
  • She was baptized into the Catholic Church in 1951.
  • Her husband was the playwright Chikao Tanaka.
  • She died of senility in 2000 at a hospital in Kiyose; her grave is in Fuchu Catholic Cemetery.
  • She was highly regarded for film screenplays, winning the Blue Ribbon Award for screenwriting in 1951.