Fumiko Hayashi
Biography
Fumiko Hayashi was born in Shimonoseki in 1903. Her parents were itinerant pedlars and her mother and mother’s common-in-law husband travelled around Japan with her, so that she never settled and frequently changed schools. Finally they settled in Onomichi when she was thirteen. She started writing for the local newspaper when she was eighteen. She had several lovers before settling down with the painter Rokubin Tezuka. She started writing novels, often with feminist themes and dealing with free-spirited women. She was criticised for reporting positively on the Japanese administration of occupied China. She died in 1951. She should not be confused with the politician of the same name.
Other links
Fumiko Hayashi
Fumiko Hayashi
Fumiko Hayashi: Haunted to the grave by her wartime ‘flute and drums’
Bibliography
(Only works translated into English)
1930 蒼馬を見たり (I Saw a Pale Horse and, Selected Poems from Diary of a Vagabond)
1951 浮雲 (Floating Clouds)