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Midori Uematsu

うえまつ みどり

Uematsu Midori

Pen Names: Midori Uematsu（Pen name used for literary works; legal name is Haruyo Uematsu.）

Profile

Gender
Female
Born
1954-11-23 （Shizuoka City, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan）
Nationality
Japan
Languages
Japanese
Residence History
Kawaguchi, Saitama, Japan → Shizuoka City, Shizuoka, Japan → United States (about 7 years) → Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan → Kichijoji (Musashino, Tokyo), Japan

Career

Occupations
Novelist, Freelance writer
Active Years
1996-
Affiliations
Japan PEN Club
Memberships
Japan PEN Club
Influenced By
Mitsugu Saotome, Yasumasa Kiyohara

Education

Tokyo Woman's Christian University
Faculty of Liberal Arts / Department of History
Year of Graduation: 1977
Country: Japan

Awards

Kyushu Saga Popular Literature Award
2002
Result: 佳作
Rekishi Bungaku Prize
2003
Work: In San Francisco
Result: 受賞
Shogakukan Bunko Novel Prize
2005
Work: Three Concubines
Organization: Shogakukan
Result: 優秀作品入選
Jirō Nitta Literary Prize
2009
Work: Gunjō: The Man Who Built the Foundation of the Imperial Japanese Navy
Result: 受賞
Nakayama Yoshihide Literary Prize
2009
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

In San Francisco

2004 Historical novel

A historical novel set in the late Tokugawa period that deals with voyages and diplomacy, including events such as the Kanrin Maru's trip to San Francisco.

Bakumatsu (late Tokugawa period)Voyage to the United StatesDiplomacyNaval history

Gunjō: The Man Who Built the Foundation of the Imperial Japanese Navy

2008 Historical novel / Biographical

A historical novel with biographical elements portraying a figure who helped establish the foundations of the Imperial Japanese Navy.

Naval historyModernizationBiographical focus

2008 Historical novel

A work set against a historical background that explores relationships and conflicts between characters. It has been retitled in later editions.

Character-driven dramaArtisans and roles

A Thousand Lives

2006 Historical novel

A novel that contemplates life and death against a historical backdrop, depicting multiple generations and characters.

Life and deathIntergenerational narrativesHistorical transitions

Three Concubines

2005 Historical fiction

A work portraying the lives and relationships of concubines in the Edo period.

Edo periodWomen's historyStatus and relationships

The Story of the Imperial Hotel's Architecture

2019 Non-fiction / Architectural history

A non-fiction work focusing on the architectural history of the Imperial Hotel, covering its design, construction, and the people involved.

Architectural historyModernizationProfiles of key figures

Cocoons and Bonds: The Story of Tomioka Silk Mill

2015 Historical novel

A historical novel set at Tomioka Silk Mill that depicts industrialization and the lives and labor of women involved.

IndustrializationWomen's historyLabor

Plum and Narcissus

2020 Historical novel / Biographical

A work modeled on Tsuda Umeko, exploring modern Japanese education and representations of women.

Women's historyEducationModernization

Bibliography

  • In San Francisco
  • Kanrin Maru: In San Francisco (retitled edition)
  • Three Concubines
  • Satomi Hakkenden (Shogakukan Bunko)
  • A Thousand Lives
  • Women and the Opening of Edo (retitled: The Ōoku Opens: Women of the Bakumatsu)
  • Tenshō-in and Kazunomiya
  • Oryō
  • Gunjō: The Man Who Built the Foundation of the Imperial Japanese Navy
  • Two Left Behind (retitled: Blocks of Life)
  • Shadow of the Black Ships: The Tsukiji Gaikokukata Incident
  • Man of Achievement: Ninomiya Kinjiro — Early Spring Records
  • Oeyo and Lady Kasuga
  • Oeyo: The Wandering Princess
  • The Half-Bell: Interrogation Records of the Edo Magistrate
  • Princess Sen: A Woman's Castle
  • Ieyasu's Child
  • Northern Five-Ringed Star
  • The Stairway of Treaties: The Indomitable Diplomat Shigemitsu Mamoru
  • Here Come the Chinese Merchants (retitled)
  • Men of Black Steel
  • Forty-Eight and a Writer: I Became a Novelist
  • Women Who Lived Through the Times
  • Rita and Massan
  • The Empress of Taisho
  • Patriots' Pass
  • Cocoons and Bonds: The Story of Tomioka Silk Mill
  • Aikana and Saigō
  • Cats, Sōseki and the 'Bad Wife'
  • Snowy Morning: The People of February 26
  • Pioneers of Meiji Industry: Men Who Brought the Industrial Revolution to Japan
  • Yamato Restoration
  • The Story of the Imperial Hotel's Architecture
  • Plum and Narcissus
  • Isabella Bird and the Samurai Boy

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Detailed depiction based on historical factsNarrative emphasizing characters' inner lives and social context
Recurring Motifs
Women's perspectivesBakumatsu and Meiji transformationsVoyage and naval themesIndustrialization and artisans

Legacy

Midori Uematsu is recognized as a historical novelist who addresses diverse themes such as women's history, modernization, and military history, and has received multiple literary awards. Her work is noted for careful character portrayals grounded in historical facts, making her an important figure in contemporary Japanese historical fiction.

Trivia

  • Pen name Midori Uematsu; legal name Haruyo Uematsu.
  • Born 1954-11-23 in Shizuoka City, Japan.
  • Graduated from Tokyo Woman's Christian University, Department of History (1977).
  • Her husband is Mitsuo Uematsu, Professor Emeritus at the University of Tokyo.
  • Lived in the United States for approximately seven years.
  • Member of the Japan PEN Club.
  • Major awards include the Rekishi Bungaku Prize (2003), Jirō Nitta Literary Prize (2009), and Nakayama Yoshihide Literary Prize (2009).
  • Began focusing on writing historical novels around 1996.
  • Authority identifiers exist such as VIAF, ISNI, and the National Diet Library (NDL).